'House Of The Dragon' Premiere Puts Up Record Ratings

A staggering number of people tuned in for the premiere of "House of the Dragon" this past Sunday night on HBO.

The highly-anticipated "Game of Thrones" prequel about the Targaryens dropped Sunday night, and as expected, millions and millions of people tuned in.

The first episode was watched by 9.986 million viewers on live TV and HBO Max, according to Deadline. That number makes it the most watched "original series in the history of pay cabler," according to the same Deadline report.

To put it as simply as possible, hype was through the roof, and people showed up in huge numbers to watch the first episode.

For comparison, the season four finale of "Yellowstone" had 10.3 million viewers, according to The Wrap.

While "House of the Dragon" hasn't caught the Kevin Costner hit just yet, the fact the premiere was within a few hundred thousands viewers is a sign it's already a hit.

Thanks to the built-in audience from "Game of Thrones," we all expected "House of the Dragon" to put up big numbers.

However, I'm not sure anyone expected a record of nearly 10 million people tuning in.

The show also didn't disappoint. The premiere episode of "House of the Dragon" was gritty, dark, violent, suspenseful and it perfectly set the stage for the coming chaos.

If you haven't already seen it, make sure to check it out and keep following all our coverage here at OutKick.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.