I’m Not Surprised House Of The Dragon’s Finale Ratings Were Down In Season 2. There’s A Big Reason I Haven’t Watched The Ep Yet

As a dedicated House of the Dragon fan and a sports enthusiast, I find myself in an unusual predicament this season. My TV guide has become a battleground between the dragons and the athletes vying for gold. The Olympics, much like Daenerys Targaryen’s dragons, have swooped in, capturing my attention with their mesmerizing performances.


As a devoted fan of House of the Dragon, I’m eagerly anticipating the Season 2 finale that’s just around the corner. The numbers are out, and the episode titled “The Queen Who Ever Was” has made history as HBO and Max’s most-watched premiere this year! A total of 8.9 million viewers tuned in across television and streaming platforms – quite an impressive figure indeed.

It seems we’re quite devoted fans of “House of the Dragon.” We usually start a new episode within 5 to 10 minutes of its release on Max, and for the first six episodes of the season, my husband and I watched them every Sunday. However, last week was difficult, and we ended up watching it mid-week. Interestingly, when the finale aired on Sunday, we didn’t watch it at all, and as I write this, I am yet to catch up with the latest episode.

As a dedicated gamer, I’ve found myself switching channels more often than my usual gaming sessions lately. The reason? It’s the Olympics taking over my screen time! Whether it’s day or night, I’ve been making time to catch these live events whenever possible. To be clear, I still hold Game of Thrones (HOTD) in high regard, but there’s just something about the excitement and anticipation that comes with sporting events that makes them unbeatable when it comes to appointment TV.

As a dedicated fan, I can’t help but notice that when the pommel horse athlete clinches a medal, it’s impossible to miss the news about it online in the morning. Similarly, if gymnasts like Simon Biles stumble on the balance beam, it’s almost inevitable to come across the news while browsing the web. Given my profession, I’m constantly connected to the Internet, and I can’t escape such updates. However, one advantage of reading headlines about House of the Dragon is that they don’t typically give away too many spoilers, leaving me intrigued rather than knowing the entire plot. Although watching the series on my Max subscription is undoubtedly appointment TV, I’ve chosen to take a break and focus on other content over the past few weekends.

It seems unlikely to me that I’m the sole contributor to distorting the figures slightly. Although I’m unsure about the overlap in audiences between a graphic fantasy drama and multi-country sports events, even if only a few hundred thousand people are keenly following the Olympics, wouldn’t that be enough to decrease the nightly viewership from approximately 9 million to around 8.9 million viewers, don’t you think?

After the closing ceremony, I’m definitely going to catch up on “The Queen Who Ever Was” in Season 2. It’s quite likely that many others are also enjoying this season, maybe they’re just a bit behind watching the final episodes.

As a dedicated gamer, I’ve got to say, hitting 8.9 million viewers for any TV show is quite impressive and it’s even better news that it’s higher than the viewership for the Season 2 premiere. It seems like more folks are getting hooked on this fantasy drama as it unfolds, episode by episode. However, HBO previously confirmed (via Deadline) that while the Live+ ratings show an average of 25 million viewers in its extended run, it’s slightly lower than during Season 1’s 29 million. So, while we’re growing strong, there’s still room for improvement in keeping our audience engaged over the long haul!

With the confirmed end date for Season 4, I’m finding it hard to let go of the Greens and Blacks. Although winter might be approaching, if Max avoids scheduling a winter release for the new season, we won’t face the same conflict with the Winter Olympics.

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2024-08-07 19:07