Despite the disappointment (to put it mildly) that many viewers had about the final season of Game of Thrones, there were still millions upon millions of people who were eagerly anticipating the debut of that fantasy hit’s prequel spinoff, House of the Dragon. Now that we’re several weeks past that momentous occasion, we know that HOTD has set a streaming record, even though it’s losing to its predecessor.
What Streaming Record Did House Of The Dragon Set?
We are now five meme-producing episodes into HOTD, and the drama is certainly no slouch when it comes to bringing viewers a number of shocking moments to keep everyone talking until the next installment comes around (don’t even get me started on that brothel scene). So, it should come as no surprise that the freshman series was quickly in a position to set a streaming record. Nielsen reported that for the week of August 22 through 28, House of the Dragon was ranked as the third most popular acquired streaming show, with 741 million minutes viewed after only two episodes had debuted for HBO Max subscribers. Even better, The Hollywood Reporter noted that this means the prequel is now the first acquired show to hit the Nielsen top ten as it was still airing, in the over two years that the company has been tracking such things.
If you’re wondering how HOTD could be classified as “acquired,” it’s because the dragon-filled fantasy is technically an HBO property, so Nielsen doesn’t treat it as an HBO Max original, in spite of the fact that both share the same parent company.
I don’t doubt that most people will find this distinction rather unimportant, but the big thing to note is how the new show was able to hit the top ten, and in such a high position (it also placed sixth among all streaming shows during this time period) with only two episodes under its belt.
Most acquired series that land in the top ten are things like NCIS (it was in second place on the acquired list), which has a whopping 354 episodes on Netflix, and The Big Bang Theory (number six), which offers 265 episodes on HBO Max. Series are at least usually very far into double-digit episode counts when they rank in this top ten, so House of the Dragon is killing the game right now.
How Did House Of The Dragon Lose To Game Of Thrones?
One “game” HOTD hasn’t managed to take down yet is the O.G.: Game of Thrones. While so many fans were infuriated by the way the original series ended, we all know that there was lots to enjoy about everything leading up to the final season. And, people are still streaming the show in droves, as the same week saw viewers tune in to Daenerys Targaryen’s journey by watching 909 million minutes of the show (which has 73 episodes), landing it in the top spot for acquired streaming shows.
With the way House of the Dragon is showing off Westeros history (and that of a surprising number of people with hair so white it’s basically DayGlo), this young upstart might be able to take the crown before we know it.
