‘House of the Dragon’ opens to 10 million viewers in the US alone

New York ( Business) — “House of the Dragon,” the highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel, drew an estimated 10 million viewers for its first episode on linear platforms and HBO Max in the US on Sunday night, the network said on Monday. Monday.

The debut, titled “The Heirs of the Dragon,” had “the largest audience for any new original series in HBO history,” according to the network.

“House of the Dragon” came in behind record numbers for original series finale episodes (“The Iron Throne,” the final episode of “Game of Thrones,” achieved a series-record 19.3 million viewers in May 2019, for example), but it’s a win as “House of the Dragon” looks to revive the “Game of Thrones” brand after a three-year absence.

The release of “House of the Dragon” is one of the biggest moments in the recent merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, which came to fruition in April. Not only does the series have a lot of attention surrounding it, but the stakes are also high for its corporate parent due to the original show’s huge popularity and the opportunity it provides. (Warner Bros. Discovery is the parent company of .)

As viewers’ tastes are fracturing and streaming becomes a bigger and more vital part of the entertainment landscape, Warner Bros. Discovery hopes “House of the Dragon” can capture some of the fire that the movie had. original series, which brought huge ratings to HBO and a large number of subscribers to HBO Max for those who want to stream it.

The new series is also trying to erase the bitter taste left over from the “Game of Thrones” finale, which ended with a mostly negative reaction from fans.

“House of the Dragon,” which takes place nearly 200 years before “Game of Thrones” and focuses on the Targaryen family and their litany of dragons, earned strong reviews with a score of 85% on review site Rotten. Tomatoes.

media critic Brian Lowry said the series “develops less addictive gameplay” than its predecessor.

“It’s not bad, and there are plenty of dragons, but it doesn’t produce the kind of characters that defined and elevated its predecessor to the prestige of TV royalty,” he wrote.