HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ becomes most-watched cable/streaming premiere of 2022

HBO’s “House of the Dragon” has soared to 2022’s number one spot for premiere-day viewership across cable and streaming, greatly surpassing already-big numbers from Netflix’s “Stranger Things 4.” The highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel was watched by 2.6 million U.S. households across streaming and linear TV in the first six hours after its 9 p.m. ET premiere on Sunday night, according to data from Samba, which measures viewership across a panel of smart TVs. The simultaneous HBO Max/HBO debut topped the “Stranger Things 4” drop by more than double—the Netflix tentpole pulled in same-day numbers of 1.2 million households. Big #HouseoftheDragon night in New York City apartments @HBO pic.twitter.com/xINets7U65— BK (@Bkillinit) August 22, 2022 “House of the Dragon” will air a new episode each weekend over the next 10 weeks and stands to be a formidable opponent for Netflix’s immense “Stranger Things 4” totals should viewership remain high. “Stranger Things 4,” which dropped its final two episodes at the beginning of July, racked up 18 billion minutes of viewing in July alone, according to recent data from Nielsen. “The next challenge, and the real opportunity for HBO in the coming weeks, is to expand viewership beyond the passionate built-in fan base,” said Ashwin Navin, co-founder and CEO of Samba TV, in a statement. “Just as ‘Stranger Things’ most recent season-four, volume- two drop surpassed its volume-one audience, HBO must look to innovative marketing that drives incremental audience growth to break through today’s saturated content marketplace.” The show is supported by extensive marketing from Warner Bros. Discovery, the largest-ever push for an HBO show—$100 million in media spend, according to Deadline. Recent activations include a partnership with Duolingo at Comic-Con, a home screen integration with Roku and AR lenses on Snapchat.

HBO’s ‘House of the Dragon’ becomes most-watched cable/streaming premiere of 2022

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