Netflix Wins: Obama Tweets “@HouseOfCards. No spoilers, please.”

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House of Cards’ first season proved that Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) could produce high quality original content, and the run-up to the second season (out today) proves that original content will keep people coming back for more. President Barack Obama tweeted, “Tomorrow: @HouseOfCards. No spoilers, please.” (h/t Jay Yarow at Business Insider), and he’s not the only one getting ready for a round of heavy Netflix viewing.

House of Cards popularity crosses the aisle

“If/when DC shuts down for blizzard Thursday, Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) would be smart to make new ‘House of Cards’ available one day early,” tweeted Senator Marco Rubio’s press secretary Alex Conant, and Fox News anchor Greta van Susteren tweeted her support along with hundreds of other, reports Brian Stelter for CNN Money. Between the president asking people to watch their comments and Rubio’s press secretary practically jonesing for an episode, maybe a bipartisan House of Cards marathon is what the two parties need to finally come together. It’s hard to remember the last time the president and a Fox news anchor agreed on anything.

Netflix becoming a cultural force

Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has been rising steadily since last April (it’s almost perfectly back on trend after the market dipped in January), and shows like House of Cards and Orange is the New Black have a lot to do with that. Netflix still hasn’t managed to put together a complete catalogue of popular movies (compared to iTunes’ extensive music catalogue, for example) so original programming as good as HBO’s, which has set the bar for many years now, gave investors faith that the company had a solid future. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) has already been credited with dropping the percentage of Americans who subscribe to pay TV channels like HBO, Netflix’s main competitor, by 6%.

With such high expectations, there’s a chance that House of Cards won’t live up to the hype, but early reviews have been positive. Next come the superheroes and the full-length films. Like any studio, there are going to be some duds along the way, but one or two highly anticipated events like this one every year will go a long way against a backdrop of decent original shows and a reasonable catalogue.

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