House of the Dragon proves a roaring success with UK viewers

Critically acclaimed prequel to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, is fast proving the follow up which fans have long waited for. The welcome return to Westeros has been reflected in viewing figures, as the opening episode on Sky in the UK has just ticked over the 4 million mark, to 4.08 million total views to date*.

This makes House of the Dragon, based on George R.R. Martin’s Fire & Blood, the biggest US drama launch ever on Sky and the biggest ever series premiere on Sky Atlantic in the channel’s 11-year history.

The latest House of the Dragon UK viewing figure of 4.08m is comprised of all viewing to date to the opening episode including those tuning into original linear premiere, those who have chosen to catch up on demand on Sky or streaming service NOW since its original air date, and customers catching up on recordings. The 7-day cumulative figure for episode 1 (3.78 million) is bigger than the launch of its predecessor Game of Thrones in 2011 and it is already ahead of the 28-day launches for series 1 to 5 of those shows, by which point the franchise had grown to be the one of the most talked about shows in the world.

Driving huge talkability week on week, House of the Dragon is one of the biggest launches across Sky’s social channels with 75 million impressions and 38 million videos views of content to date. With three quarters of a million Google searches, the show has fast become one of the most talked about shows in the UK this year, with fans debating whether they are supporting The Greens or The Blacks, or debating the tactics of #TheCrabFeeder.

For those who don’t have Sky or NOW and haven’t yet had a chance to check out House of the Dragon, Sky have made the full episode 1 available on their YouTube channels for all UK fans to watch ‘on the house’.

MD of Content at Sky, Zai Bennett said: “Momentum around House of the Dragon just continues to build, as more and more people spread the word about its ever-current narrative of political power play married with visuals of epic scale and imagination. And thanks to Sky making the first episode freely available to watch via YouTube, more people than ever before will be able to sample the world-class world of Westeros.”

House of the Dragon is available every Monday exclusively on Sky and streaming service NOW.

ENDS

Notes and substantiation

*Source: BARB and Sky data

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