HBO Max Drops Teaser For Game Of Thrones Prequel: Could The Matt Smith-Starrer Show Give A Boost To The Streaming Service?

HBO Max, owned by AT&T's (NYSE: T) WarnerMedia, has just dropped the trailer for the Game of Thrones prequel "House of the Dragon." The show is set to air on the streaming service on January 1, and the company would be hoping to see a repeat of the monumental success of Game of Thrones to catapult the streaming service in terms of rivaling current industry leaders Netflix Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) and Disney Plus (NYSE: DIS). 

Game of Thrones: Aired in 2011, Game of Thrones was one of the biggest successes during the last decade with the show steadily increasing its average viewership throughout its eight-season run. The final season had an average of 11.99 million viewers per episode in the United States alone, as per Statista, meaning that the upcoming prequel has a built-in audience.

See Also: HBO Max Announces European Release Schedule

HBO Max: Launched in May 2020, during the height of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, HBO Max has added over 67.5 million subscribers since its inception. The platform has beat Wall Street expectations oversubscriptions, with the streaming service projected to end the year with anywhere between 70-73 million subscribers.

House of the Dragon: Given the aforementioned success of Game of Thrones, expectations will be high with House of the Dragon. The show is centered around the House of Targaryen and will star English quartet, Emma D'Arcy, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, and Paddy Considine.

While HBO has had a litany of commercial and critical successes ranging from the Sex and the City to the Wire and The Sopranos, the Game of Thrones series remains unrivaled, with the show generating several revenue streams with merchandising sales alone running into the billions of dollars, as noted by Decider. 

Price Action: AT&T shares traded 0.2% lower at $27.29 in the pre-market session at press time on Tuesday.

Photo: Courtesy of HBO Max