'House of the Dragon' becomes HBO's biggest-ever premiere, makes history
The much-awaited Game of Thrones spin-off series from HBO, House of the Dragon, premiered on Sunday (August 21). It has scripted history as the network's biggest-ever premiere, recording nearly 10M viewers across linear and HBO Max platforms in the US alone. HotD also smashed records, becoming HBO Max's largest series launch across the US, Latin America, and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa).
Why does this story matter?
House of the Dragon comes from author George RR Martin, who crafted the epic Game of Thrones universe. The events of HotD take place 200 years prior to the events that unfolded in the main story. Interestingly, HBO had reportedly considered five potential GoT spin-off series before zeroing in on HotD. Considering the series's performance so far, HBO has surely signed the right deal.
'HotD' recorded 9.986M viewers in the US
As per reports, HotD's debut recorded 9.986M viewers across linear and HBO Max platforms combined in the US on Sunday. This was the largest audience amassed by any new original series in the history of the channel. On average, the Sunday night viewership for any HBO series is only 20% to 40% of the show's total audience, as per the network.
'HotD' exceeded 'GoT' premiere viewership numbers
The series debut also surpassed GoT's premiere in the year 2011 by almost 350% in terms of viewership. However, there was no HBO Max back then to boost the gross viewership, and streaming, in fact, wasn't such an integral part of the television industry. To note, GoT's series finale in 2019 recorded a staggering count of 19.3M viewers across the network's linear viewing platforms.
HBO Max crashed minutes after series premiere for some viewers
For some viewers, the series arrived a little late as more than 3,700 people reported that HBO Max had crashed just minutes after the show premiered, as per Downdetector. An HBO Max spokesperson stated that some Fire TV users also faced trouble. Though the issue was resolved eventually, it wasn't before some people expressed on social media that they were close to a breakdown!
