Viewership of ‘House of the Dragon’ has hit a steady pace.
The fifth episode of the “Game of Thrones” prequel drew 3% more viewers than Episode 4, Variety has learned exclusively. Additionally, Season 1 is now averaging 29 million viewers per episode.
These statistics combine Nielsen’s measurement of Episode 5’s four cable airings on Sunday with the number of streaming viewers across HBO Max and other HBO platforms. When isolating linear viewership, according to Nielsen, 2.576 million people tuned into the episode on HBO itself, a 4% increase when compared to last week’s 2.474 million cable viewers.
Overall, linear and streaming data both imply that “House of the Dragon,” now halfway through its first season, has found its core audience. Episode 1 was watched by nearly 10 million people across all platforms when it debuted — HBO’s biggest premiere ever — while Episode 2 reached 10.2 million. Streaming data was unavailable for Episode 3, though its Labor Day weekend debut was met with a drop of 1 million in cable viewership. However, as Variety reported exclusively, Episode 4’s viewership picked up by 5% across all by platforms, and with Episode 5’s 3% jump, it appears that the series has now hit a retention rate that is likely to remain stable as Season 1 continues.
At the same time, “House of the Dragon” will see a narrative and casting shift after this episode, as Episode 6 will mark a major time jump. The younger actors, such as Milly Alcock as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen and Emily Carey as Lady Alicent Hightower, will trade their roles over to older actors Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke, respectively.