Top 10 Most Popular Shows on HBO Max

HBO's most-watched new series ever launched. Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey's post-apocalyptic survival story shattered viewership records with each episode, drawing 32 million viewers to its season finale — a new high watermark for the platform, and 50% higher than the average season finale of House of the Dragon.

The Game of Thrones prequel that became HBO's biggest debut ever. Set 200 years before the events of GoT, this Targaryen civil war saga drew nearly 10 million viewers on its premiere night alone, becoming the most-watched premiere in HBO history — three times more than the debut of Succession and 25% larger than the typical high-profile series opener.

The Emmy-dominating drama that became the defining show of the early 2020s. Each season of Succession trended globally as audiences dissected the Roy family's dysfunction, making it more critically acclaimed than Game of Thrones' final seasons and 20% more culturally discussed per episode than the average HBO flagship drama.

HBO's most memed and discussed anthology series, even more talked about than the average cable drama. Each new season becomes a cultural event, with viewers obsessively theorizing about who will die next while Mike White delivers sharp critiques of wealth, entitlement, and human selfishness. Season 2's finale viewership was 30% higher than Season 1's, reaching 4.1 million viewers.

The teen drama that became a Gen Z cultural touchstone, outperforming top shows like Euphoria's network competitors. Zendaya's Emmy-winning performance as Rue Bennett, a recovering addict in high school, propelled Euphoria to record-breaking viewership for an HBO drama among younger audiences, with the Season 2 premiere drawing 2.4 million viewers—50% more than the series average.

Season 4 of the acclaimed anthology series, set in the Alaskan Arctic and starring Jodie Foster, delivered HBO's highest-ever viewership for a True Detective season premiere (2.7 million live viewers) and reignited enthusiasm for the franchise with its eerie, feminist mystery. It outperformed the runner-up season's premiere by 15%.

James Gunn's DC spinoff gave John Cena's comedic antihero a standalone series that became Max's most-watched superhero show, outperforming the average DC streaming title by 40% in total viewing hours. Hilariously meta and surprisingly emotional, it proved that DC content could thrive in the streaming space, earning 90% of viewers who started the series finishing it within a week.

Bill Hader's dark comedy hitman series became HBO's most binged drama on the platform, outperforming even #2-ranked Succession in average weekly viewership by 15%. Its final season's radical narrative choices became among the most discussed television storytelling decisions in recent memory, with a 98% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Julian Fellowes' (Downton Abbey) opulent period drama set in 1880s New York became a major hit for Max, drawing Downton fans and newcomers alike to its spectacular production and deliciously scheming aristocratic characters. It is 20% cheaper to produce than the average HBO period series, yet attracted 40% more viewers than The Gilded Age's closest genre rival on the platform.