The series "House of the Dragon" set an absolute record on HBO

The premiere of the fantasy series "House of the Dragon" will go down in the annals of HBO history. The Game of Thrones prequel drew 9.986 million viewers on the linear and HBO Max platforms in the United States on Sunday, August 21, 2022, the largest audience for any new original series in cable channel history.
The premiere also marked the biggest launch of the series on HBO Max in the U.S., Latin America and EMEA, leading to what HBO calls an unprecedented level of simultaneous broadcasts on the platform. Typically, according to the network, HBO's Sunday night viewership is only 20 to 40 percent of the total audience watching any given show.
The debut of "Dragon House" also surpassed the 2011 premiere of "Game of Thrones" by nearly 350 percent in terms of viewership. We have to take into account the fact that at the time, there was no HBO Max streaming yet, and streaming was an afterthought in the television industry. It's also worth noting that the 82-minute finale of Game of Thrones in 2019 broke all HBO records with 19.3 million viewers, including the now defunct HBO Go and HBO Now.
As a reminder, it was revealed the day before that the August 21, 2022 premiere of "House of the Dragon" caused the series' viewing app to crash, with preliminary reports suggesting that at least 3,000 HBO subscribers were unable to watch the premiere.
House of the Dragon ("House of the Dragon"). Release Date - 08/21/2022
In "House of the Dragon," the narrative centers on House Targaryen going through bad times. The action is set during the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, which tore Westeros apart nearly 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones. The spin-off features George R.R. Martin, Ryan Kondal, Miguel Sapochnik, Sarah Hess, and others.