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House of the Dragon Episode 4 Viewership Improves After Episode 3 Drop
Viewership on House of the Dragon episode 4 improved after a big drop that occurred on cable for episode 3. HBO brought audiences back to Westeros almost a month ago with the first Game of Thrones spinoff show. Set hundreds of years before the original series based on George R.R. Martin's books, House of the Dragon chronicles the rise and fall of the Targaryen dynasty. The show quickly recaptured the attention of viewers even after Game of Thrones' divisive ending and final season. House of the Dragon has quickly proven to be a major hit for HBO as a result.
It was not long after House of the Dragon's debut that reports surfaced of its record-breaking premiere. HBO followed up the success by quickly announcing that House of the Dragon season 2 was happening to continue the stories of Rhaenyra Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, and others. The series managed to grow its audience with episode 2 but then reports surfaced that viewership dropped 28 percent with episode 3, which did occur over Labor Day weekend. Audiences have since had the chance to see House of the Dragon episode 4, titled "King of the Narrow Sea," which focused heavily on Rhaenyra and Daemon.
According to a new report from Variety, House of the Dragon episode 4's viewership improved based on last week's episode. The report notes Nielsen's ratings had episode 4 pulling in 2.474 million viewers, down a tad from episode 3's 2.536 million. However, Nielsen ratings do not take HBO Max and other platforms into account. Variety notes that counting views from those services leads to a 5 percent rise in overall viewership for House of the Dragon episode 4 compared to episode 3.
Although episode 4 viewership did dip on cable, this report reinforces how important streaming needs to be considered when talking about the show's success. HBO proudly boasted about House of the Dragon's strong viewership, where over 10 million people watched each of the first two episodes. But, only 3.2 and 3.5 million people tuned in on cable that Nielsen can track. That means that HBO Max and other HBO platforms provided double the viewership. If the same still holds true for House of the Dragon episode 4 and a rise occurred for episode 4, the show's audience might still be somewhere around 8-10 million viewers overall.
House of the Dragon's viewership is still well behind the record-shattering success of Game of Thrones season 8, but so far the prequel is proving to be much more beloved by viewers. The series continues to earn positive reviews as viewers fondly recall the way it is similar to Game of Thrones season 1. As long as House of the Dragon continues to receive good word of mouth and dominate social media, there is a strong chance that viewership will continue to climb as more people get re-invested in the fantasy story.
