House of the Dragon takes the ratings throne

The Game of Thrones prequel has found its audience.

The Game of Thrones prequel is averaging 29 million viewers. 

HBO execs have cause for knocking back celebratory vinos à la Tyrian Lannister, their latest blockbuster series, House of the Dragon, is a roaring success.

A new report by Variety has revealed that the Game of Thrones prequel is currently averaging 29 million US viewers across its first five episodes. The stats combined Nielsen’s measurement of Monday’s cable airing of episode five with the number of streaming viewers across HBO Max and other HBO platforms (Binge in Australia.) 

There is a lot riding on the success of House of the Dragon, with HBO spending a whopping $200 million to produce the first ten-episode season. Linear and streaming data indicate that the gamble paid off, and the show, which is halfway through its debut audience, has found a captive audience. 

Images from House of the Dragon episode four. Picture: Foxtel/Binge/HBO

The first episode drew 9.9 million IUS viewers on traditional TV and online when it debuted, making it the best-ever series debut in HBO's history. With episode 2 reaching 10.2 million.

A similar milestone was hit in Australia, with 1.25 million people tuning in to watch the first episode within the week it premiered.

“House of the Dragon became the biggest premiere of all time on BINGE when it launched last month," BINGE Executive Director, Alison Hurbert-Burns said. "And with week-on-week growth, the series is shaping to be the biggest series of all time on BINGE.”

Streaming data is unavailable for Episode 3, though its Labor day weekend debut was met with a drop of 1 million in cable viewership. Variety confirms that Episode 4’s viewership picked up by 5% across all platforms, with Episode 5 jumping 3%. 

Viewing figures for the HOTD premiere episode grew exponentially in the weeks following its debut, as people caught up with the show and embarked on their own mini-binges. Warner Bros. Discovery’s chief financial officer Gunnar Wiendenfels confirms that episode 1 has now been seen by over 30 million. 

House of the Dragon viewership doesn’t stack up against the Game of Thrones finale, which was watched by 44 million people within a month.

Making a precise ratings comparison between the early seasons of GOT and HOTD is sticky business, considering the drastic shifts in the way people watch TV since the original series debuted in 2011. Now, prestige shows like Euphoria and Succession get less than 10 percent of their audience from the first airing on cable. 

GOT’s series premiere on April 17, 2011, drew 2.2 million viewers the night it aired, and stayed consistent with that for the bulk of its 10-episode run, averaging 2.52 million same-day viewers for the season. 

Next week’s episode, ‘The Princess and the Queen’, will leap forward a decade. Australian actor Milly Alcock and Emily Carey will trade their roles with Emma D’Arcy and Olivia cook as Princess Rhaenyra and Lady Alicent. Pity… we were enjoying the romantic tension between Alcock and Blue Water High alumni Ryan Corr’s Ser Harwin Strong. 

House Of The Dragon - Milly Alcock as Young Rhaenyra. CREDIT HBO/BINGE