Considering it debuted to juggernaut ratings, renewing House of the Dragon for season two would seem like a no-brainer. But with everything going on HBO’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, nothing is a sure thing right now. Fortunately, the Game of Thrones spinoff is proving that the franchise, like Robert Baratheon’s seed, is still strong, and the Targaryen family drama is officially coming back to another season.
The move came relatively quickly following the series premiere of Dragon on Sunday, which delivered 10 million viewers overnight — an HBO record for a series opener and roughly on par with the premiere of Game of Thrones season six. Now HBO reports that in the days since, the premiere’s viewership has climbed to 20 million viewers in the U.S. across linear, On Demand, and HBO Max platforms.
“We are beyond proud of what the entire House of the Dragon team has accomplished with season one,” Francesca Orsi, Executive VP of HBO Programming said in a statement. “Our phenomenal cast and crew undertook a massive challenge and exceeded all expectations, delivering a show that has already established itself as must-see-TV.”
Clearly, the series is a much-needed win for HBO’s troubled parent company, which has already enacted some drastic cuts on the streaming side of the premium channel. On top of layoffs, HBO Max has been aggressively cutting content following the shocking decision to shelve Batgirl.
However, while things are wildly in flux for WBD’s streaming strategy, it seems to know not to mess with HBO’s broadcast offerings. The network recently released a sizzle reel showcasing its upcoming series including the highly anticipated adaptation of The Last of Us, and of course, the now-renewed House of the Dragon was prominently featured.
A season two premiere date was not revealed.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)