House of the Dragon

Source: Ollie Upton / HBO

‘House of the Dragon’

The premiere of House of the Dragon drew 9.986m viewers across linear and streaming platforms in the US, HBO has reported, the biggest audience for a new original series in the premium network’s history. 

The Game of Thrones prequel, whose first episode finally arrived on screens on Sunday (Aug21), also achieved the biggest series launch on the HBO Max streaming service in the US, Latin America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Sunday night viewership for an HBO series typically represents between 20% and 40% of the series’ total audience, according to the company. 

The much-anticipated fantasy series, based on based on George R R Martin’s novel Fire & Blood, will release new episodes each Sunday on HBO and HBO Max until its finale on October 23. 

Co-created by Martin and Ryan Condal, House of the Dragon is based at HBO parent Warner Bros’ Leavesden Studios in the UK and shot on locations in the UK, Spain and Portugal. 

HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys commented: “It was wonderful to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return with us to Westeros last night. House of the Dragon features an incredibly talented cast and crew who poured their heart and soul into the production, and we’re ecstatic with viewers’ positive response. We look forward to sharing with audiences what else George, Ryan, and Miguel have in store for them this season.”