Big Dragon Energy: HBO Posts Free Episode of House of the Dragon to Steal Thunder from Amazon’s Rings of Power Premiere

Candice OrtizSep 2nd, 2022, 4:18 pm
 

HBO and Amazon are in a bitter fight for the attention of audiences who love both Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings, and the premiere cable network took a major shot at their streaming rival this week.

HBO’s highly anticipated prequel to Game of Thrones, titled House of the Dragon, premiered on August 21st. A rival show was just released yesterday evening on Amazon Prime, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

In what many viewed as an attempt to assert its dominance over OTT streaming services, HBO decided to release the first full episode of House of Dragons free to the public on their YouTube channel on the same night as Amazon’s big premiere. The free episode currently has just under 77,000 views on YouTube.

Occasionally, HBO will post free releases on its HBO Max app the pilot episodes of some of its smaller shows that may be buried under hundreds of other titles in an attempt to win over new fans. But rarely is this done with powerhouse shows that have been traditionally kept behind the paywall.

Amazon’s own release of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is currently free to subscribers of Prime Video or available to those signing up for a free 30-day trial on the website.

The company has been aggressively advertising the Lord of the Rings continuation after pouring an excess of funds into the project. According to Gizmodo, “Amazon has spent $500 million making Rings of Power (plus another $250 million just to acquire the license).” Opening the Amazon app currently brings up a black title screen promoting the show for a moment before the online shopping platform opens — with yet another Rings of Power video promo at the top of the page.

House of Dragons has racked up a reported 25 million views since its release day and has already been renewed for a second season following the premiere. The first episode ever surpassed viewership for the 2019 Game of Throne finale, which brought in 19.3 million viewers.

 

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