Netflix House of Cards gamble pays off as series becomes most-watched on streaming service

Video streaming supremos Netflix have announced that House of Cards, the Netflix exclusive that they themselves commissioned, has become the most-watched piece of content on the service ever.

Speaking to AllThingsD, Netflix content chief Ted Sarandos revealed that “nearly everyone who watched saw multiple episodes.”

Though not giving way precise viewing figures, Sarandos believes the unique distribution of House of Cards (which made every episode in the series available at once) has been key to its success.

“This show is built to be watched in multiple episode settings,” he explained.

“For every show from HBO to FX, viewers may not have seen the previous episode so they try to fill in blanks. We don’t need to spend time on exposition.”

Starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Mara and Rob Wright, the series is said to have cost Netflix $100 million for 26 episodes, and follows a member of the US House of Representatives trying to get revenge on those who have betrayed him. Well-received by TV critics, Netlfix are already lining up a second 13-episode series.