(It doesn’t hurt that “Game of Thrones” is pretty much like watching sports, albeit with more dragons.)

Finding an audience during NFL games is no easy task, but like its predecessor, “Dragon” does it every week. “Dragon’ airs at 9 pm ET against NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” which has long been one of TV’s highest rated broadcasts. That success comes amid stiff competition. Those metrics mean that global demand grew 114% between the premiere and its peak. (“Demand” is Parrot’s metric that measures such factors as downloads and social engagements of a program.) After the seventh episode aired, demand peaked the next day at roughly 138 times. 'House of the Dragon' premieres to 10 million viewersĪccording to entertainment research firm Parrot Analytics, the show’s global demand for its premiere was 64 times more than the demand for the average show worldwide. Milly Alcock, Paddy Considine Ollie Upton/HBO That includes a 3% increase for the pivotal episode six, in which the series jumps forward in time by a decade and recasts many characters, including the lead, Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen.

“Dragon” has seen week-over-week gains since episode three, according to Variety. To put that number into context, season seven of “Game of Thrones” averaged 32.7 million viewers per episode, and season 8, its final season, averaged 46 million viewers. Discovery), the series premiered to HBO records and is averaging 29 million viewers per episode across all US platforms, according to the network. The series’ August debut was highly anticipated, and while the show may not have seemed like much of a risk, a bad start could have been wiped out the entire “Game of Thrones” brand faster than a Stark at a royal wedding.įortunately for loyal GOT fans and HBO (which like CNN is owned by Warner Bros. So what was HBO to do? Create more “Game of Thrones,” of course.Įnter “ House of the Dragon,” a prequel that takes place almost 200 years before the events of its predecessor and focuses on the Targaryen family. HBO has created a kingdom of hits, with none as popular as “ Game of Thrones.” But “Game of Thrones” ended with a thud in 2019 when critics and fans were unhappy with the fantasy epic’s ho-hum conclusion (Bran Stark on the Iron Throne? C’mon!).

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