In news that might surprise only some of us, House of the Dragon continues to carry on the torch of Game of Thrones, in seeing its episodic ratings rise throughout the season. That’s right. HOTD Episode 4, King of the Narrow Sea, has done the impossible once again. As you’ll remember, back in the day, GOT was that extremely rare gem that was somehow able to pull record audiences in the middle of its 8th and final season. That rare feat is enough to keep the statisticians churning, but now, here we are, 3 years later, and once again, the first (of many proposed) spinoff show(s), has – yet again – beat the unbeatable odds to continue into the Guinness World Records of TV Ratings (what we in the GOT math community call the GWRTVR for short). Just how well did it do? Let’s find out.
It seems like it was just last week when we got the confusing ratings report that said episode 3 was up in some ways, ratings-wise, but down in others. However, that was last week – and as they say, “last week is old hat”(™). But that was last week, and this is this week. Variety breaks the overnight ratings news down for us: “Viewership…[has] increased by 5% between Episodes 3 and 4.” The thing that makes this extra crazy? Football. (More specifically, American football).
While a little Broadway kid like me would never be caught watching sports to save his life, he knows that many of you out there would be. So the fact that HOTD managed to increase in viewership despite this being the first of many upcoming football weekends is a testament to the brand power of the GOTCU (Game of Thrones Universe). Adds Variety:
This week’s slight uptick is good news for Warner Bros. Discovery, as last week’s debut of Episode 3 over Labor Day Weekend saw a decrease in cable viewership. (Data regarding overall viewership for the episode, including the key streaming contingent, was unavailable.) Additionally, viewership of previous episodes of “House of the Dragon” continues to rise with delayed viewing via streaming. According to WBD’s chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels, the premiere episode — which was already HBO’s most-viewed premiere of all time when it debuted to 10 million viewers — has now been seen by over 30 million.
THIRTY MILLION?! In 3 weeks?! I’ve run the numbers and that’s roughly one tenth of the US population. Buckle in kids. House of the Dragon is here, and it is here to STAY.
As I said in last week’s thread, the “lower” viewership last week were because of Labor Day, as we saw with the Monday numbers which actually increased the 2-day from the previous week. Just like GOT, HOTD is gaining every week until it can’t gain anymore.
Next stop is the moon. Do they get HBO on the ISS?
I saw an astronaut talk about that they binge-watched Game of Thrones & like 20 other shows while on the ISS, so yes. 🙂
Wouldn’t be surprised they greenlit at least one other spin-off show soon, or maybe two if at least one is animated.
When your job is to float around all day it makes sense that good TV will be an excellent and much needed source of entertainment.
Might not happen until after the season is over, but we’ll see!
☃️
spacechampion,
They will for sure, but probably not before this season is over. They don’t want to take the spotlight from this show. Especially if it’s something like Snow that will break the internet.
I have a feeling that 10,000 Ships will be the first to be green lit.
They will probably wait with Snow a few years as that is the big one and The Sea Snake doesn’t make sense to do while HOTD is airing. I think Dunk and Egg doesn’t make sense to do either till after they have done Blackfyre Rebellions (if HOTD does end up becoming an anthology show which I really hope), so 10,000 Ships makes the most sense to me. They even mentioned Nymeria in the first HOTD episode.
What I really like about he possible spin off pitches is how they are all very different from GOT & HOTD which focus on the “game of thrones”.
I’m really exited about all the possible spin offs.
– The Sea Snake could be an excellent way to explore different parts of Westeros, Essos and beyond and Corlys and the Velaryons are fascinating characters!
– 10,000 Ships could be really interesting as it’s such an important legend/story and we get to see a lot of Dourne.
– Dunk and Egg would be based on a great book so I’m really exited about that but I do hope that they do Blackfyre Rebellions on HOTD first as Dunk & Egg really builds on the aftermath of that which would be good for general audiences to have seen first, oh and I really want to see Blackfyre lol.
– Snow I’m not sure about as it’s a sequel to GOT and ASOIAF isn’t finished yet but as GRRM is involved I’m cautiously optimistic, though I’m definitively the least exited about this one.
Caraxes, First of His Name,
I pray for a glimpse of the next greenlit show, and R’hllor shows me only Snow.
I think we need to stop looking at shows set after the books as sequels to the book canon & see them for what they are, sequels to the show canon. For all we know, Jon doesn’t make it out alive in the books. Hell, for all we know, Dany does.
Caraxes, First of His Name,
Snow green-lit is happening soon. Probably by the end of this year.
Kit Harrington will be at Official Game of Thrones Fan Convention in December. He is coming for a reason. They are already asking him about this show in interviews.
GeekFurious,
The book ending will never happen anyway
mau,
Even given the fact that the show and book endings are different, a sequel still interests me way less than all the prequels which I’m very exited about. I liked Jon’s ending on the show. I’m cautiously optimistic though but definitively would prefer to see the 3 prequels being done before snow.
I seem to have replied to the wrong post…
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
And bring on the spinoffs!
Caraxes, First of His Name,
They could just continue this story until the end of Roberts Rebellion, that would be my dream. And include 1 or more seasons with Dunk & Egg somewhere .
Clearly Snow will be annnounced soon with showrunner Miguel Sapochnik
Joy C,
This would be amazing if it happened! Telling the story of the Targaryens (with some time jumps) all the way from the Dance to Robert’s Rebellion would be my ultimate wish, with Dunk and Egg being a separate show airing after HOTD covered the Blackfyre Rebellions. The only drawback would be that the time period before the Dance wouldn’t get covered, including Aegon’s Conquest.
This turned into a ratings juggernaut. Highest rated show on TV since Game of Thrones itself. The long-term ratings potential remains through the roof. We haven’t scratched the surface as they haven’t even shown 1% of the story yet. In fact I would count season 1 more like an extended prologue.
No doubt this leads to more shows. I’d guess the “Snow” show is almost 100% guaranteed now.
Winterry71,
While I’m still lukewarm about Snow, the fact that it came from Kit and not HBO and the report that said that it would be a limited series (one season) + GRRMs involvement makes me a bit optimistic.
Miguel being the show runner would be great and while it’s disappointing that he left HOTD, this would soften the blow. His vision for Westeros is so good and I definitively want him to work on future spin-offs in some capacity or direct some later season episodes HOTD at least!
mopfer,
The only thing I’m a bit worried about is HBO doing too much too soon. I don’t want a MCU situation where multiple shows are running at the same time and you have stuff airing almost year long.
I have complete faith in HBO after HOTD so I just hope they keep their cool and approach other spin-offs with the same care and don’t try to do too much at once.
Caraxes, First of His Name,
Yeah I had hoped they started with Aegon’s conquest, but I hope we get it afterwards.
Joy C,
Same. I read that GRRM has wanted to make the Dance into a show for many years so that was probably a part of the reason for starting with that and not the Conquest.
Caraxes, First of His Name,
It will get covered probably. Miguel Sapochnik talked how HOTD S1 is like Episode IV of Star Wars. How story can go in both directions.
So Aegon’s Conquest probably gets covered.
“Snow” is a no-brainer. I’d bet the farm on it.
• It’s got GRRM’s blessing. It’s a way for him to finish the story without writing the books. It’s also a way for him to supply the ending he intended or intends, to the extent he was dissatisfied with the TV show.
• I suspect that Kit H may not have been entirely thrilled with GoT’s conclusion of Jon Snow’s story.
This would be his chance to go out with a bang instead of a whimper.
• If nothing else, the ending of GoT left Jon’s fate ambiguous: Did he leave CB for good to live with or lead the Free Folk? Was he just leading them to Wildlingville before returning to CB to serve out his days in the new and improved (and unnecessary) NW?
• From its initial reception at least, HotD has demonstrated there is still a built-in fan base for GoT/ASOIAF shows.
• Jon Snow was arguably the most popular or second most popular character on GoT.
• There is no bigger Arya fanboy than yours truly, yet I was dissatisfied with the WW-Jon Snow storyline ending abruptly with Arya shanking NK while Jon yelled at undead Viserion and ducked behind a rock. (Geez, they could’ve at least had Jon & Arya fight side by side, as the pre-S8 WF Crypts teaser trailer teased, even if she delivered the fatal blow.)
Many of us (like me) watched the conclusion of S8e3 and the apparent demise of the WW and thought, “Wait, what??? That’s it? No more WWs?”
A Jon Snow sequel provides an opening, if the showrunners want it, to suggest that maybe all the WWs didn’t disintegrate.
• “Snow” is a cash cow just waiting to be milked. HBO’s suits have to figure the GoT franchise is their golden goose. Just throw some cash at Big G and Kit H, and away we go!
As the old song goes: “Money! Money changes everything.”
• And of course, a Snow sequel provides the opportunity for cameos or guest appearances by other beloved characters,
• Personally,
• If HotD has already been greenlit for S2, there is no reason not to fast-track Snow into production.
P.S. Hey Jack Bauer 24:
It’s now almost 3 1/2 years after the finale of GoT aired in May, 2019. “Snow” hasn’t even gone into production yet, so let’s say it would be late mid-2024 at the earliest before it would air.
That would be 5 years after GoT ended. It would be hard to call that “too much too soon.”
Oh, and I doubt any of the other proposed spin-offs would take precedence over a Jon Snow Show.
Ten Bears,
Yeah a one season limited Snow series in 2024-2025 is fine. What I’m talking about is if they have HOTD plus multiple other spin-offs running at the same time. I’d say HOTD plus one spin-off and Snow (as it would probably be one season only) would be a good balance. If HOTD takes 2 years to make they could air let’s say 10,000 Ships in the HOTD off years. A Snow limited series wouldn’t become a problem as it wouldn’t be a long running series (if the reports are to be believed).
I’m really exited about the other prequels but I just don’t like how Disney does with their SW and MCU shows where people don’t care anymore because there’s always something airing. And with something like Dunk and Egg, it makes much sense to make that after Blackfyre has been done on HOTD (if that’s the case).
I doubt we’ll ever see Dunk and Egg on screen. HBO would be out of their minds to commit to another unfinished book series. And this one is even more unfinished than ASoIaF proper as Martin has written only three out of expected ten or twelve novellas.
Ten Bears,
Oh I think there is no way they will bring White Walkers back. In fact I think HBO is very happy that this storyline is over. They want to create drama shows like HOTD is now. White Walkers are just pushing the story in the direction of conventional fantasy.
It’s over and that’s for the best. WW were always the least interesting element of the story and in my opinion one of the main reasons GRRM can’t finish the story. He wants to write about human heart in conflict with itself and he can’t do that when you have ice demons coming to kill them all.
Caraxes, First of His Name,
Snow is not even green-lit yet. It is impossible for that show to air before very late 2024, probably early 2025.
House of the Dragon S2 won’t air before spring of 2024. Next year we basically won’t have anything from GoT universe.
It’s not too much at all.
Personally I’d like to see different stuff from what we’ve already seen / are seeing. Game of Thrones was epic huge sprawling fantasy story. House of the Dragon seems to be going down a more grounded, historical drama route.
I’d love the next show to be something more pulpy, adventurous, and exotic. Both the Sea Snake show and the Nymeria show seem to fit that bill. Give me something truly old-school, Howardian or Lovecraftian. Lost cities deep in the jungle, corsairs on the high seas, fish-aspected people worshipping at the altars of oily black stone, splendor and mystery of Yi Ti, magic of Qartheen warlocks at the height of their powers, shadows of Asshai and the lands beyond. I would gobble up that shit in an instant.
Mr Fixit,
By the time HOTD has done Blackfyre Rebellions he might have written some more Dunk and Egg novellas 🙂
GRRM literally confirmed it’s the broad beats of his ending, there is zero chance Dany is alive, it’s foreshadowed in the earlier books how her story will end.
Ten Bears,
I’m not sure this is quite true, Ten Bears. Large changes have already occurred between the TV show vs. the books and some of those changes apply to Jon’s story as well, especially post season 3. Post season 5, we don’t know what was changed or how that impacts Jon’s conclusion in ASOIAF. GRRM may have given his assistance and thoughts to Kit Harington’s team on Snow but I don’t know that it can provide a way for GRRM to show Jon’s story the way he wants without going back into time starting around perhaps season 3 before those major changes began to occur. As GRRM has often said, small changes can often lead to large differences — including the journey to the ending.
And I think a story is much more than its ending, it’s about the journey to that ending, and I suspect that’d be important to GRRM too. I don’t know what Snow can do that would give GRRM an opportunity for revision when the show’s journey to its ending has already been done. More and more, GRRM has been recently saying his ending will be different.
Main difference will be that one exists.
Caraxes, First of His Name,
I hope so. The next dunk and egg is supposed be about them going to winterfell. And egg meeting old nan
Actually I hope GRRM would just stop trying to finish A world of Ice and Fire because it will never happen anyway. If he could just admit that, he could spend all of his time on the coming TV shows like Dunk & Egg. I think it’s much easier to finish those storylines because he already knows the end, than to finish the main story which is much more complicated.
I’m the opposite 🙂 As long as he has breath in his lungs, I’ll still hold out hope because I’m so involved in the mysteries and magic of ASOIAF. I wasn’t at all satisfied with what GoT gave us, I did feel short-changed because so much of the lore/mystery/magic (among other things) were left out. As long as GRRM is alive, I hope he keeps trying to finish his projects. And as another creative, I kind of hate the notion of anybody giving up on their life’s big project :/ This has been in his head since the late 80s. If he doesn’t finish, he doesn’t finish, and I’m okay with that too. For me, it’s hope for the best, expect the worst, but I definitely don’t want GRRM to just give up on ASOIAF :/
Joy C,
I agree.
Ten Bears,
You may not have liked it, but there’s nothing to suggest that Kit Harington and GRRM feel the same way. After all, I believe Martin joined D&D and the cast onstage when season 8 won the Emmy for Best Drama. Why would he show support for the show winning an award if he wasn’t a fan of the final season?
As for him using the Jon Snow spin-off to finish his story, I don’t see how that works. The spin-off depicts events after GOT and only focuses on one character. Even if Jon somehow ends up in the same place he’ll be in at the end of ASOIAF, there’s still a whole roster of characters whose story ended in GOT. At most, he’ll be telling only a fraction of his story, assuming Jon ends up in a different place in the books, which is unconfirmed.
Young Dragon,
I think Snow’s sequel will just continue the story. And that’s fine
There won’t be White Walkers, Jon won’t be king of Westeros and Daenerys will stay dead.
Adrianacandle,
Then I will defer to your better judgment.
It does make me wonder what the driving motivation of the story will be. There doesn’t really seem to be much for him to do North of the Wall right now.
Mr Fixit,
”I’d love the next show to be something more pulpy, adventurous, and exotic. Both the Sea Snake show and the Nymeria show seem to fit that bill. Give me something truly old-school, Howardian or Lovecraftian. Lost cities deep in the jungle, corsairs on the high seas…”
You mean, something like this?
https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/001/494/628/0df.jpg
Ten Bears,
Sure. No need to go west though. There’s plenty of stuff east and south.
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