The Season 3 premiere of “House of the Dragon” racked up 21.5 million global viewers in its first three days of availability, according to Warner Bros Discovery.

A combination of Nielsen’s measurement of viewers on HBO‘s cable channel and Warner Bros. Discovery’s own data regarding streams on HBO Max, that total represents a slight decrease of 8% from the three-day viewership total achieved by the Season 2 premiere in 2024. The second season managed to cross 23.4 million viewers in three days, though it should be noted that Season 3 is competing for viewership with the FIFA World Cup.

WBD also reports that in the week leading up to the Season 3 premiere, which is titled “Salt and Sea, Fire and Blood,” viewership of Season 2 tripled compared to the week before it. Season 1 is now averaging 92.2 million viewers per episode.

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“House of the Dragon” premiered in 2022 as the first prequel series to “Game of Thrones.” (The second, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” premiered earlier this year.) Season 2 premiered in 2024. Season 3 will run for eight episodes, with the finale airing on Aug. 9. The series has already been renewed for a fourth season, which will premiere in 2028.

The cast of “House of the Dragon” includes Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Tom Glynn-Carney, Sonoya Mizuno, Harry Collett, Bethany Antonia, Phoebe Campbell, Phia Saban, Jefferson Hall, Matthew Needham, James Norton, Tom Bennett, Kieran Bew, Kurt Egyiawan, Freddie Fox, Clinton Liberty, Gayle Rankin and Abubakar Salim. Ryan Condal serves as showrunner, and co-created the series with “Game of Thrones” author George R. R. Martin. Both executive produce alongside Sara Hess, Melissa Bernstein, Kevin de la Noy, Vince Gerardis, David Hancock and Philippa Goslett.

Source: Variety