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'House of the Dragon' Finale Pulled HBO's Biggest Finale Audience Since 'Game of Thrones'

It had 10 million fewer viewers than GOT's final episode, however.

Corinne Reichert Senior Editor

Corinne Reichert (she/her) grew up in Sydney, Australia and moved to California in 2019. She holds degrees in law and communications, and currently writes news, analysis and features for CNET across the topics of electric vehicles, broadband networks, mobile devices, big tech, artificial intelligence, home technology and entertainment. In her spare time, she watches soccer games and F1 races, and goes to Disneyland as often as possible.

Expertise News, mobile, broadband, 5G, home tech, streaming services, entertainment, AI, policy, business, politics Credentials

I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.

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Corinne Reichert

Oct. 24, 2022 2:07 p.m. PT

Princess Rhaenys riding her dragon — Ollie Upton/HBO

Sunday night's House of the Dragon season one finale brought big numbers back to HBO Max. It marked HBO's biggest finale audience since the controversial Game of Thrones series finale three and a half years ago, with 9.3 million viewers tuning in.

This number was still quite a ways away from the final episode of Game of Thrones, however, which pulled in 19.3 million viewers across HBO's platforms and broke HBO records. Even the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones saw 18.4 million viewers.

House of the Dragon episodes are averaging 29 million viewers in the US, HBO said Monday. Season 7 of Game of Thrones -- the second-last season -- averaged 32.8 million viewers per episode, for comparison, while season 8 averaged 44.2 million viewers per episode.

"We're so thrilled to see House of the Dragon catch fire with Game of Thrones fans around the world, as well as new viewers who are discovering the world of Westeros," HBO CEO Casey Bloys said in a statement.

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