The first episode of House of the Dragon season two attracts fewer viewers than the first season

House of the Dragon is back, but with fewer viewers. The second season debuted Sunday evening, June 16 and, according to Warner Bros. Discovery 7.8 million viewers across linear and streaming platforms. That's a bit of a blow to the franchise, considering the first season premiere drew about 10 million viewers on its first night.



While WBD didn't break out viewership by linear and streaming, the company did say that HBO Max had its best day ever on Sunday, thanks to House of the Dragon.

Samba TV's data also showed a dramatic drop in viewership from the first season, reporting that 1.3 million US households watched the season two premiere episode on HBO and HBO Max. That's compared to the 2.6 million who watched the first season premiere.

This isn't necessarily the news HBO was hoping for with the latest season, but all hope isn't lost, as weekly viewership is probably a more meaningful metric than premiere night viewership.

The viewership was catching up on the first season ahead of the final episode. In the week leading up to the start of season two, the first season gained approximately 1 million viewers, which is the largest audience to see the title in over a year and a half. This could indicate that season two will gain more viewers in the coming weeks as audiences rewatch the series and finish a potential rewatch.

The series is a great success outside the US. In Latin America, the season two premiere episode broke viewership records with a 30% growth over the first season premiere. It is the largest launch for HBO 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/executive producer Ryan Condal, co-showrunner/executive producer/director Miguel Sapochnik and executive producers Sara Hess, Jocelyn Diaz, Vince Gerardis, Ron Schmidt. It is based on Martin's Fire & Blood