The much-anticipated second season of HBO’s “House of the Dragon,” a prequel to the acclaimed “Game of Thrones” series, attracted 7.8 million viewers across HBO and Max on its premiere night, as reported by Warner Bros. Discovery. This marks a 22% decrease from the 10 million viewers who tuned in for the series premiere in 2022.
The Season 2 premiere, which aired concurrently with the Tony Awards, saw a significant drop in viewership compared to its debut season, which set records as HBO’s largest series premiere. Initially, the first episode of “House of the Dragon” Season 1 pulled in 10 million viewers on its debut night.
Despite the decline, the second season’s premiere still surpassed the initial live viewership numbers of its predecessor series, “Game of Thrones,” which launched in 2011 with 4.15 million viewers. “House of the Dragon” Season 1 eventually averaged 29 million viewers per episode over three months, becoming the most-watched show on HBO at that time, only to be surpassed later by “The Last of Us.”
The first season of “House of the Dragon” demonstrated significant growth in its audience over time, reinforcing its popularity and viewer engagement beyond the initial airings.