‘Rings Of Power’ Tops ‘House Of Dragons’ With Huge SVOD Debut

As frankly expected, Amazon’sAMZN
$465 million first season of The Lord of the Rings: The Power of the Rings debuted atop the Nielsen
NLSN charts. The first two episodes, running 134 minutes total, earned 1.253 billion minutes in its Thursday night-to-Sunday night frame, meaning around 9.4 million households watched the two-part pilot. It’s the first time an Amazon show has debuted atop the Nielsen chart, although Coming 2 America opened at #1 in April of 2021. It is well below the 7.1-billion-minute launch of the first seven (super-long) episodes of Stranger Things season four and the 5.9-billion-minute launch of the last two episodes (running a combined four hours) of that same season. If Amazon wanted to challenge such records, it would have released all eight season one episodes simultaneously. It didn’t, so it won’t.

In more useful comparisons, the first three episodes of Wheel of Time nabbed 1.16 billion minutes in its opening weekend. In contrast, the ‘not for kids’ The Boys earned 949 million minutes for its first three episodes when season three dropped earlier this year. Reacher pulled 1.8 billion minutes in its ‘entire season at once’ debut, so technically among Amazon shows, Sherlock Homeless still reigns supreme. Jokes aside, had The Rings of Power dropped three over/under 65-minute episodes, we’d probably be looking at a 1.88 billion-minute launch. Next week’s charts (detailing the first full week of availability and the debut of episode three) *could* be the peak for the show’s weekly ratings. That’s not a slam. If audiences watch each new episode as it debuts and don’t rewatch previous episodes, well, that’s how television was supposed to work.

The hype, marketing and curiosity were always going to drive initial interest. However, the concern was that general/casual viewers would slowly (or quickly) fall by the wayside as what was unique and event-ized upon launch becomes just another big-budget fantasy television show. Season one is likely to be a smash, but what happens with season three two years from now? Recall, and this also goes for The House of the Dragon, that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them earned $234 million domestic and $814 million worldwide in late 2016. Alas, folks were just curious at the start. By Fantastic Beasts and the Secrets of Dumbledore, it was down to $96 million domestic and $400 million worldwide. The intended-to-be five-part saga was brought to a (possible) end on chapter three.

House of the Dragon logged 781 million minutes for its first three episodes (181 minutes total). Offhand, the show will likely rank ‘lower’ than its rivals since Nielsen doesn’t count those who watch it on regular HBO. Moreover, if it really is appointment television, its fanbase will watch the week’s newest episode right when it airs (or early the next week). Its raw weekly minutes-viewed numbers will be mainly for the latest episode or two. Offhand, that 781 million minutes could mean 4.3 million households watching all three available episodes, 12.3 million households just watching the most recent episode, or (most likely) somewhere in between those two extremes. Amusingly enough, Game of Thrones (with its 73 episodes) earned 792 million minutes. Either way, HBO Max will take the big-budget fantasy viewers.

For those decrying the death of network television, NCIS pulled 812 million minutes from 314 episodes while Grey’s Anatomy earned 674 million minutes from 396 million episodes. She-Hulk is gaining ground after a soft start, which might just be each 35-minute episode being released weekly. The delightful legal comedy earned 472 million minutes amid its first three episodes. Its viewership is between 4.5 million households for all three episodes and 13.5 million households for just “The People vs. Emil Blonsky.” I’m guessing closer to the lower end. That it’s not a chart-topping blockbuster is another reminder that not every Marvel comics fan walks into a comic shop and buys every issue of every ongoing Marvel title. Finally, Elvis earned 482 million minutes on HBO Max, or about 3 million households watching Baz Luhrmann’s 160-minute Austin Butler/Tom Hanks musical biopic.