Biggest since GoT: Here's How Many People Watched HotD Finale
Some 9.3 million people tuned in on Sunday night to watch House of the Dragon final Episode making it "the biggest finale night" for an HBO's series since Game of Thrones in May 2019.
"We're so thrilled to see House of the Dragon catch fire with Game of Thrones fans around the world, as well as new viewers who are discovering the world of Westeros for the first time," said HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys in a statement. "Congrats to George, Ryan, Miguel and the whole House of the Dragon team on an incredible first season."
The final episode of the GoT spin-off featured a long-anticipated showdown between princes Lucerys and Aemond. When Lucerys tries to escape from Aemond's pursuit, his dragon Arrax breathes fire on Vhagar, who kills Arrax and his rider Lucerys almost in no time. The killing is what will lead to the Targaryen Civil War of which we'll learn in Season 2.
The grand finale raked in impressive numbers despite it was leaked online to torrent sites just days before its premiere. The leak caused a massive scandal. At the time HBO said the network was "aggressively monitoring" the situation and has been removing copies from torrent sites. Besides, the show had to compete with such rivals as the NFL's Sunday Night Football game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins on NBC and Major League Baseball's ALCS playoff game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees on TBS.
Outside of the U.S., House of the Dragon surpassed Game of Thrones Season 8, making it the most viewed HBO title ever in Latin America, Europe, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan on an HBO streaming service.
All episodes of the series are now averaging 29mn viewers in the U.S. A bit of context for you – GoT Season 7 averaged 32.7 million viewers per episode, while its final Season 8 raked in 46 million viewers.
The series was renewed for Season 2 just days after its premiere in August. No wonder! Get ready for another record – Episode 1 managed to rack up 20mn viewers between its premiere on August 21 and the following Friday, making it the largest audience for any new original series in HBO history. So, all things considered the series stands a good chance of setting yet another record in the future.
The production of Season 2 has started but filming isn't expected to end until summer 2023. Hopefully, it will be released in 2024.