Netflix users streamed more than one billion hours of content online during June, the most in a single month.

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings made the announcement Tuesday in a post on his Facebook page. Hastings congratulated the company's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, and his content licensing team for the achievement, and predicted that new shows on tap for later this year will ratchet up video streaming rates even further.

"Netflix monthly viewing exceeded 1 billion hours for the first time ever in June," Hastings wrote. "When House of Cards and Arrested Development debut, we'll blow these records away."

Netflix last month announced the launch of its own content delivery system called Open Connect Network. The move was prompted by the explosion in the amount of video Netflix customers are watching on the company's Watch Instantly streaming network.

Netflix, based in Los Gatos, California, revealed back in January that users watched approximately 2 billion hours of content during the fourth quarter. Also, despite its missteps last year, Netflix managed to surge past Apple's iTunes to become the largest U.S. online movie service in revenue terms, IHS iSuppli reported last month.

The company faced heat last year, after splitting pricing for its streaming-only and DVD rental services, charging $7.99 for each rather than $9.99 for both. The price hike - and the short-lived decision to re-brand the DVD business as Qwikster - contributed to a loss of about 800,000 Netflix customers last year. But that started to rebound around the holiday season, and Netflix said recently that customers who dropped Netflix last year are starting to return.

In a recent earnings report, Netflix said it added nearly 3 million streaming members in the first quarter for a total of 26 million global streaming accounts, making it the largest subscription streaming video service on the Internet. In the U.S., it added 1.87 million streaming customers.