The Rings of Power season 2 early ratings actually aren't that bad

You would think Frodo failed and the One Ring had fallen back into Sauron's hands based on the response to the latest ratings for The Ring of Power season 2 premiere from SambaTV.

According to Samba TV, The Rings of Power season 2 premiere, released on Aug. 29, was only watched by 902K households in its first few days on Prime Video, down from 1.8 million for the season 1 premiere.

Look, I know that sounds bad. Half of the people who watched the series premiere didn't immediately watch the season 2 premiere. Prime Video would obviously hope that more people tuned in for The Rings of Power season 2 premiere. According to Deadline, Amazon did not share any official numbers for The Rings of Power, but the first season was the biggest premiere for a new Amazon series.

I don't think the narrative about The Rings of Power season 2 premiere is fair, though. It seems like it's an opportunity for people to pile on a series that isn't perceived to be one of the best on TV.

Compared to other shows like it, The Rings of Power isn't that far off. According to Samba TV, only 1.3 million viewers tuned in for House of the Dragon season 2 premiere in its first few days. Its viewership also was cut in half from the season 1 premiere, as well. And, that's only 400K more viewers than The Rings of Power season 2. House of the Dragon is a much better show, so that makes sense.

And, for those focusing on The Rings of Power season 2 viewership numbers getting cut in half right out of the gate, the same thing just happened with House of the Dragon season 2. Is anyone concerned about House of the Dragon moving forward aside from George R.R. Martin?

Looking a little deeper, Only Murders in the Building season 4 just premiered on Hulu around the same time as The Rings of Power. That show is considered one of the best shows on TV, and its ratings for the season 4 premiere totaled 634K viewers in its first week on Hulu, according to Samba TV. That's nearly 300K less than The Rings of Power season 2 premiere.

Looking at other shows that recently premiered, The Rings of Power season 2 premiere is still bigger than Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+, slightly lower than 3 Body Problem, and about half of what Hulu saw for Shogun, according to Samba TV.

Allegedly, The Rings of Power is one of the most expensive shows on TV. There's no denying that this show is beautiful and incredible, visually. We don't work for Amazon, though. Should we really care about the budget for the show? Obviously, we want the show to be renewed, so the more people that watch, the better. But, I do not care how much Amazon spends on the show as long as the show continues and we see the full vision JD Payne and Patrick McKay had for this series.

I like The Rings of Power. Is it my favorite show? No. Does it frustrate me or annoy me with some of the choices the show makes at times? Yes. But, it's still a solid show! I love The Lord of the Rings. For me, the positives of the show outweigh the negative aspects.

We all expect The Rings of Power to be popular; that's fair. The Lord of the Rings by Peter Jackson is one of the most popular and beloved film franchises of all time. The Hobbit movies weren't. That's just the way it goes.

I'm not giving up in The Rings of Power just yet, and neither should you.