Rings of Power audience suffers drastic drop despite strong Season 2 reviews

Rings of Power Season 2 is off to a strong start… if you’re looking at its reviews, but its viewership has taken a substantial dip.

We loved Rings of Power Season 2. In our review, we said it “redeemed itself” after a shaky start, and “unlike what the Ents say, on this occasion, forgiveness doesn’t take an age.”

And most critics appear to agree, with the Lord of the Rings show’s new season earning an 83% Rotten Tomatoes score. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s popular – as its audience rating of 59% (an improvement from Season 1’s 38%) indicates.

Season 1’s premiere attracted 1.8 million households within its first three days in the US. According to Amazon, which has kept specific details of Rings of Power’s performance close to its chest, this was its biggest premiere ever on Prime Video.

Prime Video

Season 2 hasn’t fared as well, with just 902,000 households watching the first episode in its first four days on the streaming service – that’s nearly a 50% drop.

Admittedly, this isn’t all that surprising. The show has loyal fans and outspoken critics – the key to a show’s success is in the silent majority, the people who tune in week in, week out, without as much as a peep.

Unfortunately, Rings of Power struggled to retain people’s interest when it arrived in September 2022. According to The Hollywood Reporter, it had a 37% completion rate in the US – meaning 63% of viewers fell away before the finale. It was slightly better overseas, with its international rate standing at 45%.

Amazon Studios chief Jennifer Salke dismissed any notion that the series set off on a bad foot. “This desire to paint the show as anything less than a success — it’s not reflective of any conversation I’m having internally,” she said in an earlier statement.

“That’s a huge opportunity for us. The first season required a lot of setting up.”

It’s unclear how it’ll perform on Nielsen’s streaming chart, though it’ll have a tough time matching Netflix’s ratings, which crushed House of the Dragon and The Boys this summer.

You can read more about why Lord of the Rings fans hated Rings of Power Season 1. We’ve also got recaps of Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, and Episode 4, and check out our breakdown of Tom Bombadil and our predictions for the Dark Wizard.