House of the Dragon is off to another great start in the ratings. The Game of Thrones prequel just barely aired the second episode of its freshman season, but the HBO series scored higher ratings than in its debut week.
As previously reported, House of the Dragon became HBO's highest-watched series premiere ever, drawing in a crowd of 9.9 million people. Anticipation for the series was high, as it became Game of Thrones' first spin-off to make it to the airwaves. It’s predecessor famously kept upping the ante every season, and its average number of viewers kept climbing each year, and Variety reports that House of the Dragon's ratings is living up to the franchise's legacy.
House of the Dragon has followed up its premiere episode with a viewership of 10.2 million people during its second episode, “The Rogue Prince.” This represents a 2% increase in the number of people watching, which may not seem like a lot, but executives are clearly watching the numbers with growing interest. House of the Dragon secured a second season renewal in between the airing of its first and second episodes. The strong, early success of the show is good news amidst the tumultuous times at HBO. Following the buyout of Warner Bros. By Discovery, the network has canceled many of its projects and seems to be narrowing its scope down. The fact that House of the Dragon is performing so well is a good sign for its continued existence.
The full scope of its rating successes, however, will not be seen for another few weeks. There are currently eight episodes left to go in the season, and anything can happen within that span of time. It does appear that House of the Dragon is secure in its ratings, but to say that it will always be a rating success after just two episodes would be tenuous. Its greatest challenge will likely come following the aging-up of certain cast members. A time skip will occur during the coming weeks, during which time the younger cast members, such as Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra, will be recast in order to better reflect the ages of some of the characters.
If the audience responds well to this change, though, it’s likely that viewers will stick around for the long haul. After that, who knows what could happen? Perhaps the show will follow in Game of Thrones' footsteps and increase its viewership each season.
House of the Dragon airs Sundays at 9 PM EST on HBO.
Source: Variety