Amazon Prime Video remains steadfast in its commitment to a five-season plan for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, despite a notable drop in viewership. This ambitious project, one of the most significant in streaming history, continues through its second season, facing challenges compared to its inaugural run.
When The Rings of Power was first announced, it came with high expectations and a strategy outlined for a five-year run. However, recent data from third-party estimates have shown a significant decline in audience numbers. According to Luminate, the Season 2 premiere, which included three episodes totalling 204 minutes, garnered 553.5 million minutes watched in the first four days — a sharp fall from the 1.2 billion minutes of the two-episode premiere of Season 1, which spanned 132 minutes. This decline represents less than half of the viewership of the initial season, even with an additional episode.
Further reports by Samba TV have mirrored these statistics, indicating that household viewership for Season 2 dropped to 900,000 from 1.8 million in Season 1. Amazon has not officially released these data but has placed the series above The Boys on its own Top 10 list, despite The Boys having ended its fourth season months earlier.
Prime Video confirmed that writing for Season 3 had begun as of February, although an official renewal announcement for the series is still pending. Last week, Deadline reported that approximately 902,000 U.S. households watched the Season 2 premiere in its first four days, reflecting about a 50% decrease from the Season 1 premiere.
However, there is a silver lining. Prime Video announced that The Rings of Power Season 2 had been watched by 40 million viewers within its first 11 days of release, a considerable number, though not reaching the explosive debut of Season 1, which drew 25 million viewers in the first 24 hours alone.
While the initial setbacks and the significant investment in the series — The Rings of Power boasts one of the largest budgets in television history — are concerning, Prime Video’s dedication to continuing the saga underscores their belief in the series’ long-term potential. The commitment reflects an understanding that some fluctuations in viewership are normal, especially when comparing to other high-profile series like House of the Dragon, which also experienced a viewership decline this year but by a smaller margin of about 15%.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, games, and comics — you name it. When she’s not reading or geeking out about the latest shows on Netflix, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of meeting her idols.
Kevin Low
