For its first season , '' House of Cards '' received nine nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2013 , to become the first original online-only web television series to receive major nominations . Among '' House of Cards &apos; '' nine nominations , " Chapter 1 " received four nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards and 65th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards becoming the first webisode ( online-only episode ) of a television series to receive a major Primetime Emmy Award nomination : Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for David Fincher . This episode also received several Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations , including Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series , Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series , and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series ( Original Dramatic ) . Although Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series is not a category that formally recognizes an episode , Spacey submitted " Chapter 1 " for consideration to earn his nomination . At the Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Award presentation , " Chapter 1 " and Eigil Bryld earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series , making " Chapter 1 " the first Emmy-awarded webisode . At the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony , Fincher won for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for directing the pilot episode " Chapter 1 " in addition to the pair of Creative Arts Emmy Awards , making " Chapter 1 " the first Primetime Emmy-awarded webisode . None of the Emmy awards were considered to be in major categories
65th Primetime Emmy Awards
65th Primetime Emmy Awards
House of Cards (American TV series)