It's not the 25 million viewers (global) that Amazon Prime reported, but with 12.6 million viewers in the U.S. "The Rings of Power" still beats "The House of Dragons" that had 10.6 million viewers via HBO Max in the U.S. in the week of August 29-September 4, 2022.

How will reviewers on internet who claimed that Nielsen ratings is the only reliable independent source and expected it to confirm there low - negative - ratings for "The Rings of Power", now spin these numbers to still favour their preferred show "The House of Dragons"?

... Nielsen Streaming Top 10: ‘House of the Dragon’ and ‘The Rings of Power’ Face Off for the First Time:

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” prequel series “House of the Dragon” and Amazon Prime Video’s “The Lord of the Rings” expansion “The Rings of Power” both appeared on Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the week of Aug. 29-Sept. 4, with “The Rings of Power” coming out on top — taking the No. 1 position with 1.3 billion minutes viewed. “House of the Dragon” was behind it, ranking as No. 5 and being watched for 781 million minutes, 61% less than its rival. (Note: Nielsen measures only U.S. viewing on television screens, excluding other countries and devices.)

... ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Claims Nielsen Streaming Ring, Topping ‘House Of The Dragon’ When Linear Is Subtracted:

In the first head-to-head showdown for two big-budget fantasy series on Nielsen’s weekly streaming chart, Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power got the edge over HBO Max’s House of the Dragon.

For the week of August 29-September 4, the first two episodes of LOTR rang up 1.253 billion minutes of streaming, compared with 781 million for Dragon, which finished fifth for the week.

Factoring in some other Nielsen figures, the fantasy battle is closer than the raw weekly streaming numbers would suggest. In its first four days of availability (August 21 to 24), Nielsen estimates that House of the Dragon reached a total audience of 10.6 million viewers via HBO Max in the U.S. In its first four days of streaming, by comparison, Rings was seen by 12.6 million viewers in the U.S. The Dragon number climbs to 14.5 million when including HBO’s main linear channel, though on-demand viewing or showings across the multiplex (HBO2, HBO Latino, etc.) are not counted in that number.