Rings of Power Dominates House of the Dragon in Streaming Ratings

Nielsen has released the first batch of viewership data for the end of August and start of September, revealing the first showdown between Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and HBO’s House of the Dragon, and there’s a clear winner. According to Nielsen, for the week of August 29th to September 4th (the first two episodes of Rings were released on September 1st) The Rings of Power was watched over 1.253 billion minutes by subscribers, making it the top piece of content on all of streaming in the United States. 

For comparison’s sake, House of the Dragon sits at the #5 piece of overall streaming content but the #3 “acquired” streaming series (it technically airs on HBO prior to streaming on HBO Max). For this week of the series, when the third episode premiered on September 4th, House of the Dragon sits at 781 million minutes streamed by users. It will be interesting to see how these two shows continue to stack up in the coming weeks though, especially since Nielsen operates on a delayed schedule. 

There’s another thing that works in House of the Dragon‘s favor however, it premieres on cable seconds before becoming available for streaming. In the end the viewership for the Game of Thrones prequel may well match or exceed The Rings of Power when all totaled together.

What’s better, House of the Dragon or The Rings of Power?

Considering the two highly anticipated fantasy shows premiered very close to each other, it’s hard to note have some comparison between the two. As of this writing, House of the Dragon has an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (with an 84% Audience Rating) and The Rings of Power has an 84% approval rating on the review aggregator (with a 38% Audience Rating, which should largely be discarded). So which one should you watch? Just as it is with all things, it’s up to what you like. Do you prefer more grim fantasy with a George R. R. Martin-like level of violence? Or do you prefer the whimsical storytelling of J.R.R. Tolkien? Luckily there’s an option for either.

Where can you watch house of the Dragon?

The Game of Thrones spinoff series can be watched on premium cable with an HBO subscription or streamed online via HBO Max. These are the only platforms to watch the new series as of this writing, though some episodes are available free to those interested in seeing what the fuss is about.

How to Watch The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

The new series can only be streamed on Amazon Prime Video, be it directly through an internet browser or on a Prime Video app on a Smart TV or other device. The series is only available to watch for Amazon Prime subscribers, available on a monthly or annual subscription, but you can sign up for it here.