Today: In a first for the Los Gatos company, Netflix signs anexclusive deal to debut 26 episodes of "House of Cards" starringKevin Spacey. Plus: Cisco Systems, Celera, Netgear, Silicon Valleytech stocks.
Netflix's big Hollywood deal
Netflix -- the Los Gatos online DVD-by-mail pioneer turnedInternet streaming destination -- has signed a deal for rights to anew TV series from producer David Fincher -- director of "The SocialNetwork" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
Fincher and Media Rights Capital, an independent film studio,will provide 26 episodes of "House of Cards," a political thrillerstarring Kevin Spacey that will "debut exclusively" in the U.S. andCanada on Netflix's instant streaming service, according to a newsrelease today. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
"House of Cards" will be based on a novel and BBC miniseries ofthe same title. Production of the U.S. version is expected to beginin 2012.
"The gripping, serialized one hour drama has become a veryimportant part of the Netflix experience," Netflix Chief ContentOfficer Ted Sarandos said in the news release. "David Fincher'sunique vision, the indelible performances of Kevin Spacey and theoriginal version of 'House of Cards,' all have a big following amongour members, giving the series a very good chance of becoming a fanfavorite."
In an interview with All Things Digital's Peter Kafka, Sarandosacknowledged that the deal has "an added risk factor" for Netflix,but said "it's not much of a radical departure in what we do everyday."
"There's no risk factor in terms of delivery, because we're notinvesting development money, and we don't pay for it unless theydeliver the show," he told the site. "But it is the first time we'vemade a very large commitment to a series that hasn't been produced."
Netflix stock, by the way, finished regular trading today at$209.40, down $4.50, or 2.1 percent, from Thursday's closing price.
More tech headlines
Cisco Systems: The San Jose network-equipment behemoth hasdeclared its first-ever stock dividend.
Cisco's board authorized a 6-cent-a-share dividend payable April20 to shareholders on record as of March 31. "Cisco's leadershipposition in the markets we serve is strong, and the time is rightfor Cisco to pay our first-ever cash dividend," Chief FinancialOfficer Frank Calderoni said in a news release today.
According to The Associated Press, Cisco is joining such dividend-paying tech blue chips as Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. Cisco inSeptember announced its intention to start paying a dividend to itsstockholders.
Cisco shares climbed 14 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $17.14.
Celera: The Alameda developer of cardiovascular and moleculardiagnostic products has agreed to be bought by New Jersey-basedQuest Diagnostics for $8 a share, or about $671 million.
Quest would gain $327 million in cash and short-term investmentsfrom Celera, so it put the transaction value of the deal at $344million.
Celera stock skyrocketed above the offering price, a signal thatinvestors might be expecting a competing offer. The shares climbed$2.13, or 34 percent, to $8.40.
Netgear: The San Jose maker of networking gear for individualsand businesses intends to buy Westell Technologies' customernetworking business for $33.5 million in cash.
The Westell unit provides gear that consumers use to connect tohigh-speed Internet services over telecommunications providers'existing copper and fiber lines. In a news release, Netgear CEOPatrick Lo said the deal would "strengthen our market position amongNorth America telecommunications operators."
Netgear stock was up 68 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $31.19.
Silicon Valley tech stocks
Up: Oracle, Intel, Cisco, eBay.
Down: Apple, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Gilead Sciences, VMware,Juniper Networks.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index: Up 7.62, or 0.3 percent,to 2,643.67.
The blue chip Dow Jones industrial average: Up 83.93, or 0.7percent, to 11,858.52.
And the widely watched Standard & Poor's 500 index: Up 5.49, or0.4 percent, to 1,279.21.
For the week, however, the Nasdaq plunged 2.6 percent, the Dowdropped 1.5 percent, and the S&P 500 lost 1.9 percent.
Check in weekday afternoons for the 60-Second Business Break, asummary of news from Mercury News staff writers, The AssociatedPress, Bloomberg News and other wire services. Contact Frank Russellat 408-920-5876. Follow him at Twitter.com/mercspike.
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