House Of The Dragon Season 2 Premiere Viewership Down Versus Series Launch

House of the Dragon is back.

The second season debuted on Sunday night, tallying 7.8M viewers across linear and streaming platforms, according to Warner Bros. Discovery. That’s a bit of a hit to the franchise, considering the Season 1 premiere drew about 10M viewers in its debut night.

While WBD didn’t break down viewership across linear and streaming, the company did say that Max saw its best day ever on Sunday, thanks to House of the Dragon.

Samba TV data also showed a dramatic drop in viewership versus Season 1, reporting that 1.3M U.S. households watched the Season 2 premiere episode across HBO and Max. That’s compared to the 2.6M that tuned in for the Season 1 premiere.

This isn’t necessarily the news HBO hoped for with the latest season, but all hope is not lost yet, as the weekly viewership is likely a more meaningful data point that the premiere night audience.

The company audiences were catching up on Season 1 ahead of the latest episode. In the week leading up to the Season 2 premiere, the first season managed about 1M viewers, which is the largest engagement the title has seen in more than a year and a half. This could indicate that Season 2 will see stronger viewership in the coming weeks, as audiences tap back in to the series and finish a potential rewatch.

Outside of the U.S., the series is seeing some outsized success. In Latin America, the Season 2 premiere broke streaming viewing records, seeing 30% growth vs. the Season 1 premiere. It’s the biggest launch for Max in the region, according to WBD.

House of the Dragon is from co-creator/executive producers George R.R. Martin; co-creator/co-showrunner/EP Ryan Condal; co-showrunner/EP/director, Miguel Sapochnik; and EPs Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis, Ron Schmidt. It’s based on Martin’s Fire & Blood.