HBO’s “House of the Dragon” finale racked up 9.3 million viewers on Sunday night across all platforms, marking the biggest finale night for an HBO series since “Game of Thrones” ended in 2019. The viewership numbers are based on a combination of Nielsen and first party data, and are all the more impressive in light of the fact that the finale leaked online to torrent sites days before it aired.
“We’re so thrilled to see House of the Dragon catch fire with Game of Thrones fans around the world, as well as new viewers who are discovering the world of Westeros for the first time,” said Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and HBO Max. “Congrats to George, Ryan, Miguel and the whole House of the Dragon team on an incredible first season.”
The prequel series, set 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” debuted in August to 9.986 million viewers, the largest audience for any new original series in the history of HBO and the largest series launch on HBO Max across the U.S., LatAM, and EMEA markets. That number rose to 20 million once delayed viewing was accounted for.
All episodes of the series are now averaging 29 million viewers in the U.S., which is on par for the 32.8 million average viewership for “Game of Thrones” Season 7.
Created by Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin, “House of the Dragon” tells the story of the beginning of the end of the Targaryen dynasty, with the show’s first season largely covering the backstory to what’s known as the Dance with Dragons, one of the bloodiest civil wars in the history of Martin’s sprawling “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga.
While based on an existing (and wildly popular) franchise, “House of the Dragon” took a number of risks, not the least of which being the decision to feature a massive time jump in the middle of the season and recast the lead roles with older actors who would carry the show forward.
Condal previously told TheWrap he was inspired by “The Crown” to take this approach to the series.
“We looked at what ‘The Crown’ did and really admired it. And I think it’s one of the shows that certainly I, as the showrunner and lead writer, when we’re in the room pointed to ‘The Crown’ as one of our references in terms of the kind of drama that we were aspiring to create,” Condal explained. “And I think an aspiration just in terms of what I think is a high watermark in the art form. ‘The Crown’ is very successful at taking well-known characters and then recasting them. They did it between seasons, we did it in the midst of the season. I think that was the big thing is just doing it midseason with a brand new show and trusting that the audience would sink their teeth into the characters and then stay with you as you swap them out. And so far, I think it’s paid off.”
“House of the Dragon” was quickly renewed for a second season, for which Condal will serve as sole showrunner after Season 1 co-showrunner and director Miguel Sapochnik bowed out.
