House of the Dragon has been winning the love of the audience ever since the show’s debut on August 21, 2022. And the love is quite visible in the viewership numbers the show has been getting.
As per the latest stats, House of the Dragon has averaged 29 million viewers per episode. The Game of Thrones prequel opened with 10 million viewers, and the numbers have kept increasing with each subsequent episode. Read on to know the complete viewership stats of the show.
House of the Dragon Averages 29 Million Viewers Across First Five Episodes
The stats comprise both cable network and streaming views and include the viewership of the latest episode, We Light the Way. Episode 5 drew 3% more audience than Episode 4, King of the Narrow Sea. If we consider only cable viewers, as per Nielsen, 2.576 million people watched the latest episode on HBO, as compared to 2.474 million cable viewers last week.
The premiere episode of the series earned 10 million viewers, a number which increased in the second episode and reached 10.2 million. The third episode saw a drop of 1 million viewers in cable viewership, owing to labor day weekend.
The show then again picked up, with Episode 4 getting 5% more viewership than the previous episode, and finally, Episode 5 attaining a 3% more jump in viewership. If the trend continues, the show will surely reach the numbers of its predecessor, Game of Thrones, which averaged 44 million viewers during its last season.
HBO has Already Ordered a Second Season of the Show
Looking at the record-breaking viewership number, HBO ordered a second season of the show shortly after the debut episode aired. The show has come as a sigh of relief for the cable network, which has canceled a number of shows in the recent past due to lack of viewership.
Announcing the renewal, HBO said in a statement at the time, “We are beyond proud of what the entire House of the Dragon team has accomplished with Season 1. Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV.”
“A huge thank you (to co-creator and executive producer George R.R. Martin and co-creator and showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik) for leading us on this journey. We couldn’t be more excited to continue bringing to life the epic saga of House Targaryen with Season 2,” the statement continued.
The Show is Introducing New Actors in the Upcoming Episode
The show’s success can be attributed to the gripping storyline and stellar performances by the actors. In the first five episodes, Milly Alcock played Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Emily Carey played Queen Alicent Hightower. Both the actresses were able to cement their position in the audience’s hearts, and fans loved their performances.
In the next episode, the show will see a 10-year leap, after which Alcock and Carey will be replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively. Now it will be interesting to see if the new actors will be able to live upto the expectations and will the fans stay hooked to the series even after the departure of their favorite actors.
For more news and updates, keep watching this space.