The premiere of "Dragon Family" set a new record with nearly 10 million viewers in the United States alone

HBO announced today (August 23) that the first episode of its Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon recorded the network's most popular premiere ever, with 9.986 million viewers on cable and HBO Max streaming on Sunday night in the United States alone.

The original Game of Thrones series ended 2019 with 13.7 million live viewers on cable, and more than 19 million combined with increases in streaming and video on demand. According to HBO, interest in the original series soared ahead of the premiere of House of the Dragon, with streaming averaging a 90% weekly increase in August.

“It was great to see millions of Game of Thrones fans return to Westeros with us last night,” Casey Bloys, HBO’s chief content officer, said in a statement. “House of the Dragon has an incredibly talented cast and crew who put their hearts and souls into making it, and we’re thrilled with the audience’s positive reaction.”