The Penguin Overshadows Rings of Power Amid Skyrocketing HBO Viewership

There’s a new television powerhouse emerging: HBO has disclosed that The Penguin has significantly outperformed Rings of Power in terms of opening viewership.

Despite receiving positive reviews, Rings of Power Season 2 has started weak in the ratings department, witnessing a nearly 50% decline in viewership compared to its Season 1 debut.

This decline wasn’t entirely unexpected, as the first season had difficulty maintaining viewer interest, with only 37% of US audiences completing the series.

In contrast, while audiences are tuning in for Season 2, other streaming series have captured more attention. Notably, The Penguin garnered an impressive 5.3 million viewers within its first four days across multiple platforms, including HBO, streaming services like Max, and other cable offerings.

To contextualize this success, it exceeds Succession Season 4‘s premiere viewership of 4.9 million. Additionally, it marks Max’s most significant four-day launch since The Last of Us, as reported by Variety.

The disparity becomes more pronounced when comparing it to Rings of Power Season 2, which attracted only 902,000 households within its first four days—ultimately making The Penguin nearly six times more popular.

Further streaming data supports this trend, highlighting that Rings of Power has its share of dedicated fans, albeit a smaller vocal group. According to Luminate, it accumulated 346 million minutes viewed from September 13-19, which places it as the fifth-most-watched show for that week.

While this is a respectable achievement, the viewership numbers of competing series are considerably larger: Hulu’s The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives attracted 537 million minutes, and Netflix’s Into the Fire, Emily in Paris, and The Perfect Couple collectively amassed over 3.5 billion minutes.

However, it’s unlikely that Amazon will cancel Rings of Power; as noted by The Hollywood Reporter, Prime Video remains committed to the show’s original five-season plan.

If you’re more interested in the Batman spinoff, check out our recap of The Penguin Episode 1 and make sure to bookmark our release schedule.

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