Analysts who have argued that Netflix is spending more money than it can ever hope to recoup from subscription fees were given new ammunition by a report in Variety quoting a CAA literary agent as saying that the company had originally agreed to pay an astounding $4.5 million for each episode of House of Cards but that executive producer David Fincher took it way above that. Agent Peter Micelli also said that the cheapest original episode being produced for Netflix has a budget of $3.8 million and that the company's upcoming series, Hemlock Grove and Orange is the New Black, have a budget of $4 million each. They're huge budget shows, doing things in a huge way, Micelli told Variety. In February, Netflix offered its 23 million subscribers 13 episodes of the entire season. MediaPost reported on Friday that an estimated 2-3 percent of its subscribers have actually accessed the entire series. The company itself is silent on the matter. But social media tracker General Sentiment said that several less-expensive broadcast network shows that debuted around the same time as House of Cards rank higher on Twitter's involvement scores, including Cult on the CW with a 6.5 score and The Carrie Diaries with a 6.4 score. By contrast, Cards drew a 3.8 score.