The hype surrounding House of the Dragon is very real. The highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series shattered records for HBO, delivering the premiere network’s most-watched premiere ever, with 10 million viewers tuning in to watch on the first night. With viewership that high, ratings were likely to dip at least a little bit in the second episode, but that didn’t turn out to be the case. Viewership for House of the Dragon actually rose in its second week, improving on the already impressive premiere.
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The second episode of posted viewership 2% higher than the series premiere last Sunday. 10.2 million viewers tuned in for this week’s episode, continuing to prove that the new series is an absolute behemoth for HBO, and that the Game of Thrones franchise still thriving.
Speaking of Game of Thrones, the original series has been enjoying a massive spike in viewership with the arrival of House of the Dragon. Despite the lukewarm reception to the finale, Game of Thrones has been on a ton of screens around the country once again.
According to HBO, Game of Thrones viewership on HBO Max is up 30% over the last week, posting eight straight weeks of growth. Game of Thrones was the second-most watched title on all of HBO Max last week, behind only House of the Dragon. The premiere episode of the prequel has now been viewed around 25 million times.
Given these numbers, it should come as no surprise that HBO renewed less than a week after it premiered.
“It was wonderful to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return with us to Westeros last night,” HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys said in a statement. “House of the Dragon features an incredibly talented cast and crew who poured their heart and soul into the production, and we’re ecstatic with viewers’ positive response. We look forward to sharing with audiences what else George, Ryan and Miguel have in store for them this season.”
Have you been enjoying House of the Dragon so far? Let us know in the comments!