Rings Of Power Wasn’t Finished By An Amazing Number Of Viewers
63 percent of The Rings of Power viewers didn't stick around long enough to watch the final episode of Season 1.
People were surprised when retail giant, Amazon, decided to get into the entertainment business, and they were even more surprised when the new studio announced the creation of the highly ambitious Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings of Power. Yet, Amazon seemed to prove its worth when the first episode of the fantasy epic drew in a major audience of 25 million global viewers. However, the big numbers didn’t seem to stick as the results are in, and it seems a vast majority of Amazon viewers never finished The Rings of Power, instead dropping away from the show somewhere in the middle, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Even though streaming platforms do the best they can to keep their numbers secret from the public, the trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, has insider access to examine data and examine they did. THR looked closely at Amazon’s viewer data and determined that only a shockingly low 37 percent of Rings of Powers viewers in the U.S. tuned in to watch the series finale, with 63 percent of the show’s viewers opting to skip the final episode. The show did a little better internationally, with 45 percent of viewers tuning in to watch the end of the season, but the numbers are still way lower than what the streaming platform had hoped for.
According to insiders, Amazon was hoping for at least a 50 percent completion rate at the bare minimum. While 50 percent completion is nothing to brag about, it would have been a solid result that gave hope for the rest of the series, but unfortunately, Amazon didn’t hit that mark.
It was an exciting moment for Lord of the Rings fans when Amazon first announced The Rings of Power—an excitement that grew even more as audiences saw first looks at how stunning the visuals of the show were. However, that excitement began to dwindle as people tuned in to watch the series and found themselves having a hard time getting into the show. Like Tolkien’s books, The Rings of Power took its sweet time getting to the story of the series, preferring to amaze audiences with its beauty instead.
While the show being gorgeous to look at is a nice bonus, it doesn’t necessarily keep audiences engaged, something that The Rings of Power had a lot of trouble doing throughout its 11-episode first season. Part of the series’ downfall likely came from waiting for eight episodes to introduce major characters and keeping the titular rings away from the narrative until the season finale.
Clearly, Jeff Bezos was hoping for The Rings of Power to be his studio’s version of Game of Thrones. Amazon even dug deep into its pockets to make sure The Rings of Power would be the next big fantasy series, shoving a hefty $465 million into production costs for Season 1 (a stark contrast to the $60 million spent on Season 1 of Game of Thrones in 2011). Unfortunately, it seems that Amazon is trying to fix all of its content with money and is spending a fortune on material that simply isn’t engaging with its audience.
Still, The Rings of Power has been renewed for a second season, which is currently in production. Hopefully, Amazon can look at this viewer data as constructive criticism and figure out a way to make the story more engaging for its audience. But to know for sure, we will have to wait at least another year as showrunner Patrick McKay has said that it could take as long as Fall 2024 before the next season will be released.
