HBO Says 10M Watched 'House of the Dragons'

The Sunday night premiere of “House of the Dragon,” the much-anticipated “Game of Thrones” spinoff, was the most-watched episode of an HBO series since … “Game of Thrones,” the cable network said on Monday.

The NY Times reports HBO said 10 million viewers had watched the episode across its platforms, including the cable network and its streaming service, HBO Max. Cable-only viewership totals, which are supplied by Nielsen, will not be made public until Tuesday morning.

The viewership was the biggest start for a series in HBO history, the network said. A strong debut from “House of the Dragon” is a source of comfort to HBO executives, and may be evidence that viewers are craving more stories from Westeros. HBO has at least five other “Thrones” spinoff ideas in development.

Casey Bloys, the chief content officer of HBO, said in a statement that he was “ecstatic with viewers’ positive response.”

The last time “Game of Thrones” aired, in May 2019, the series shattered viewership records but also suffered from a last-season backlash from critics and fans. Some people associated with the show — including the writer who created the “Thrones” universe, George R.R. Martin — were concerned that the backlash would turn off viewers from giving “House of the Dragon” a chance. The prequel takes place some 200 years before the events of the original series.

“House of the Dragon,” which benefited from a lavish marketing campaign, has nine more episodes this season.