The ratings for season 2 of “The Rings of Power” are high and yet low

Amazon has released some viewing figures for the second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

The company says 40 million viewers worldwide have watched at least some of the first three new episodes. Rings of Power episodes through the first 11 days of the second season. The company did not disclose, however, how much of the season or any one episode those 40 million people watched. (Amazon’s figure differs from the increasingly adopted standard for streaming views, which divides total viewing time by run time.)

Amazon also noticed Rings of Power is one of the top 5 seasons of all time for Prime Video (compared to the first 11 days of other shows) and has been No. 1 on the service since its return.

The news follows claims by independent ratings services that the second season’s viewership dropped sharply compared to the first season. According to Samba TV, only about half as many US households watched the second season premiere in the first three days after its release as the series opener.

To be fair, The Rings of Power had an industry record budget of $715 million for the debut season, the new episodes probably need to be a top 5 contender for the service (if not top 2).

“Through its second weekend of release, our key metrics show that we have another big season of success ahead of us, with 40 million viewers already watching S2,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon MGM Studios, in a memo to her team. “We’ve also observed that tens of millions of viewers have watched S1 since early August. We’ve seen an impressive number of our Rings of Power Customers are coming from outside the U.S., which is a testament to the show’s resonance with global audiences and the remarkable growth of Prime Video customers worldwide.”

Salke also praised the return of Gripperthe blockbuster launch of the first season of Stand outRatings growth for season four of The boys, and films Street House And The Introduction of you.