SUBSTANCE OVER STYLE: 'House of the Dragon' thumps 'The Rings of Power' as viewers for 'GoT' prequel soar
2022 has been a great year for epic fantasy TV shows. Viewers got to see two of the biggest shows – ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ – on their TV screens and relished quality content. Every week fans of both shows would flock to several social media platforms to let everyone know which show is better. However, it is always better to talk about the show’s popularity with viewership numbers and it seems the HBO prequel series is turning out to be a winner in this race.
The premiere of ‘Game of Thrones’ prequel series was seen by more than 10 million people on the day of its release and garnered favorable reviews. Meanwhile, ‘The Rings of Power’ debuted with two episodes and when Amazon shared initial numbers, the production company revealed that the premiere was seen by more than 25 million viewers. Since then, HBO, along with the third-party platform, has been releasing viewership numbers almost every week. On the other hand, Amazon never really came out with actual numbers. Even though the first season of both shows has come to an end, they are still turning out to be a force to be reckoned with.
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Nielsen released the figures for the week of October 17 – October 23, revealing which TV show reigned supreme during the aforementioned week. According to figures, the viewership for ‘House of the Dragon’ nearly doubled that of fellow blockbuster series ‘The Rings of Power’. The list indicates that the HBO series was viewed for 1.013 billion minutes during the period while ‘The Rings of Power’ was watched over 570 million minutes in the same time frame.
The finale of ‘HOTD’ aired on October 23rd so that played a significant role in taking the viewership numbers to another level. On the other hand, the HBO series had two more episodes than ‘The Rings of Power’, which concluded its first season on October 14th. Both shows continue to outclass each other while they were airing on their respective platforms. In September, ‘The Rings of Power’ came out on top with 1.3 billion minutes viewed while ‘House of the Dragon’ was at the fifth position in the same list. Despite viewership wars, both shows have managed to pass the audience test with flying colors and fans can’t wait to see the shows returning for another season.
HBO has already announced that ‘House of the Dragon’ will be returning for Season 2 while ‘The Rings of Power’ will be running for five seasons as per reports. ‘House of the Dragon’ has a rating of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes while ‘The Rings of Power’ has a score of 85% on the aforementioned website.
Which show is your favorite? ‘House of the Dragon’ or ‘The Rings of Power’, comment below.
