TV Ratings: ‘House of the Dragon’ Opens Lower With Season 2 Premiere

Phia Saban in ‘House of the Dragon.’

Ollie Upton/HBO

Westeros remains a favored destination for HBO viewers.

The second season premiere of House of the Dragon brought in 7.8 million viewers across all platforms in the U.S. Sunday night — a strong showing, without a doubt, but about 22 percent below the show’s record-setting series premiere in August 2022.

The series premiere drew nearly 10 million viewers across all platforms in its first night, making it the most-watched series opener in HBO’s history. Season one’s first-night average was in the 9 million-9.5 million range for most episodes.

Season one ended up averaging 29 million cross-platform viewers per episode (HBO measures viewing for 90 days after a season debut), the highest number for any HBO series since Game of Thrones ended — until The Last of Us surpassed HotD in early 2023 by averaging better than 30 million viewers over its run.

Still, the 7.8 million viewers for House of the Dragon‘s first night positions the show for another huge season. In comparison, True Detective: Night Country averaged about 13 million viewers per episode for its entire season, including multiple weeks of streaming and other delayed viewing. Season two of The White Lotus came in at 10.1 million viewers, and the final season of Succession averaged 8.7 million — only 900,000 more than what HotD amassed on one night.

Sunday was a historically low TV usage night, per Nielsen, which may have affected the first-night numbers some.

HBO and Max are also touting the worldwide impact of House of the Dragon, saying that Max had its biggest single day globally since its launch (worldwide viewing figures aren’t being made public). Viewing of season one also spiked in the days leading up to the premiere, drawing 1 million viewers — its highest total in 19 months.