House of the Dragon's average viewership per episode has been revealed, and it is massive. The show premiered a month ago on HBO and is the first Game of Thrones spinoff series. House of the Dragon dramatizes the history of House Targaryen 200 years before its parent series. The prequel sees two Thrones alum, Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik, taking over as showrunners, though the latter recently left the show ahead of season 2. House of the Dragon stars an ensemble cast led by Paddy Considine as King Viserys, Doctor Who's Matt Smith, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, and Fabien Frankel.

The divisive response to Game of Thrones season 8 led to some concern about the controversial final season potentially turning viewers off subsequent spinoffs, though that hasn't been the case with House of the Dragon. The premiere was watched by a record-breaking audience for an HBO series debut and was soon renewed for a season 2. House of the Dragon season 1's audience has fluctuated with each of its five episodes so far, though it has been consistently sizable.

Related: House Of The Dragon Ratings Prove GOT Season 8's Backlash Failed

Now, a new report reveals just how massive the Game of Thrones prequel's audience has been. According to Variety, House of the Dragon is averaging 29 million viewers over the course of its first five episodes. The statistic was determined by combining Nielsen ratings with streaming viewership across HBO Max and other platforms.

Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen at her wedding in House of the Dragon episode 5

In addition to averaging 29 million viewers per episode, House of the Dragon episode 5 saw a 3% increase in viewership from the previous episode. According to Nielsen, 2.576 million people tuned into the most recent episode on cable alone, which marks a 4% increase from the last episode's 2.474 million viewers. Since House of the Dragon's premiere was watched by nearly 10 million viewers across all platforms, episode 2 surpassed it with 10.2 million, though episode 3 (which aired over Labor Day weekend) saw a significant decline in cable viewership. Now, on the heels of episode 4's 5% increase coupled with the most recent episode's 3% jump, it appears House of the Dragon has found a steady viewer retention rate that it should maintain for the remainder of season 1.

At House of the Dragon season 1's halfway point, both cable and streaming numbers suggest the series has found a core audience comparable to Game of Thrones. However, major changes are coming due to episode 6's 10-year time jump which will see the show's younger stars, Milly Alcock and Emily Carey, replaced by Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke. It will be interesting to see if House of the Dragon maintains its audience after these major chronological and casting changes.

Source: Variety