HBO's "House of the Dragon" Season 2 premiere ratings dropped 22%, lower than the first season

The second season of HBO's "Game of Thrones" spin-off "House of the Dragon" premiered last weekend (June 16) and attracted a total of 7.8 million viewers. Compared with the 10 million viewers of the first season of "House of the Dragon" released in 2022, the number of viewers for the second season premiere decreased by 22%.

The drop was attributed to a drop in linear ratings, with about 1 million fewer viewers tuning into HBO's cable channel on Sunday than when the first season premiered, according to Variety Nielsen. Despite the drop in ratings, the season still gave HBO MAX the highest-ever streaming day in the U.S. and globally, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.

Season 1 of Family of the Dragon premiered in 2022 with 10 million viewers, and in episode 2, the ratings peaked at 10.2 million. Specific figures for episodes 3 to 9 have not yet been released, but episode 10 ended the first season with 9.3 million.