On Friday, Netflix launches all 13 episodes of "House of Cards," its original series in which it's investing $100 million. And unlike its rivals HBO (TWX) and Showtime (CBS), which release premium episodes one a week over the course of months, Netflix is dumping all 13 at once, so its subscribers can watch them in big chunks—what's unflatteringly called "binge viewing."

This is a big deal: it's Netflix's first big debut in the premium original content space, and it puts the streaming video player into direct competition with HBO, Showtime and Starz, for both content and viewers. It's a total transformation of the way Netflix conceives of its relationship with content. And the subscription service hopes it'll help lure and keep subscribers.

Facebook announced on Thursday it's expanding its online retail business with its latest product, the Facebook Gift Card.

The news comes on the heels of Facebook's better-than-expected earnings report on Wednesday, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's comments about the social media giant's foray into the retail business. (Read More: Facebook Now TRULY a Mobile Company, Beats Expectations.)

Michael Bay, the iconic director of blockbuster hits like "Transformers," "The Rock" and "Armageddon" sits down with CNBC's Julia Boorstin to talk about his approach to filmmaking, his perspective on the stock market and his partnership with Pepsico's Doritos on a Super Bowl ad competition.

This is a web extra interview you'll only see on CNBC.com.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg got straight to the headlines, and they were all about mobile. He kicked off the earnings call by saying that 2012 was a big year because for the first time "more people are using Facebook on mobile every day than on the desktop." He said that this transition has been "challenging for us to navigate" but that after investing in the mobile experience, "we're coming out of the year with a strong foundation and a lot of momentum."

Facebook's mobile stats are pretty striking –Facebook's mobile monthly active users grew 57 percent from a year ago to 680 million. Facebook's mobile ad revenue doubled from the third to the fourth quarter, now comprising 23 percent of ad revenue. And Facebook points to a ComScore report that over a quarter of time spent on mobile apps is spent on Facebook and its Instagram.

The company beat earnings expectations, reporting non-GAAP earnings per share of 17 cents, two cents more than expected. The social network grew revenue 40 percent to $1.585 billion, also higher than expectations. So why did the stock drop as much as seven percent lower after hours, rebounding to just a few percentage points below where it closed the day?

Thursday is a big morning for media: Two giants—Viacom and Time Warner Cable—report quarterly earnings before the bell.

Every year the Super Bowl is always just as much about ads as it is about football, but this year half the Super Bowl ads will include Twitter hashtags in their game-time spots.

That's up from just a handful of hash tags in Super Bowl ads last year, and from just one hash tag in Super Bowl ads 2 years ago.

Facebook's highly-anticipated fourth quarter earnings are due out after the bell Wednesday. Three big questions: Is Facebook's revenue growth continuing to accelerate? How fast is Facebook growing its mobile business? And what will CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg tell us about the health of Facebook's ads business and other ways it plans to make money.

Netflix's better than expected earnings was due to the explosion of Internet-connected TVs, tablets, and smartphones, which enabled more viewing and convinced more people to sign up, according to Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix.

CBS shares shot 10 percent higher at the market open Thursday on the company's announcement Wednesday afternoon about its plans to spin off its billboard business.

The company plans to spin off its U.S. outdoor business into a Real Estate Investment Trust and it will look for a buyer for its outdoor business in Europe and Asia. Wall Street analysts are applauding the the move, which allows CBS to focus on content. It also unlocks value for shareholders. (Read More: CBS Shares Pop on REIT Plan)

Walt Disney shares are bucking the Dow Jones' downward trend, thanks to optimism about the potential of the "Disney Infinity" game platform the media giant unveiled in Hollywood on Tuesday.

The stock traded up more than 1 percent on Wednesday, after adding a percentage point on Tuesday.

Disney's latest move comes from its interactive division, which has been unprofitable for the last 16 quarters. It's lost more than a billion dollars over the past four years.