Online streaming video & DVD subscription service Netflix has reportedly confirmed it had purchased exclusive rights to “House of Cards,” an original television series to be directed by David Fincher, who directed popular Facebook movie “The Social Network”.

The 26-episode political drama series will star Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey as an ambitious American politician.

“House of Cards” is going to be Netflix’s first foray into original programming. The series will make debut on Netflix’s online streaming service sometime in late 2012.

Netflix’s spokesperson Steve Swasey said the company could present multiple episodes at a time for watching on demand, rather than one episode a week.

Swasey added that acquiring rights to the original series was not a shift in the company’s strategy.

Commenting on the topic, Swasey said, "Netflix is licensing the series, not bearing any of the production costs or creative risks."

Under the terms of the deal, Media Rights Capital, which currently owns rights to the political drama, will retain DVD rights and the right to syndicate the series for television after the end of Netflix’s exclusive period.

Los Gatos, California-based Netflix has more than twenty million subscribers in the US and Canada.