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There are few brands in TV history bigger than Game of Thrones. The initial series was an insane smash hit for HBO, two spinoff series have taken off, and multiple others are in development. But the success of those spinoffs are predicated on continuing interest in the franchise, and season three of the initial spinoff, House of the Dragon, just premiered on Sunday. How’d it do? Viewership over the course of the first three days was down 8 percent from three-day season-two premiere window. Granted, the current season is competing with the FIFA World Cup, which could bring down immediate ratings. But season two premiered the summer that Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, and Charli XCX all had us outside, so who can say if that took a bite of viewership then?
Despite slightly flagging interest, the season premiere totaled 21.5 million global viewers. That still makes it one of the most popular shows on HBO. For comparison, season two of HBO Max’s beloved drama The Pitt averaged 15.4 million viewers per episode after 98 days, per The Hollywood Reporter. And that’s also a megahit. At the same time, Game of Thrones’s final season was viewed by an average of 44 million people per episode back in 2019 when long-tail streaming was taken into account. Could House of the Dragon make it up there? Maybe if it climbs on Vhagar’s back.
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