If there were any doubt that the enthusiasm for Game of Thrones had diminished as fans waited almost two years since the last season debuted, a digital flood this week proved the passion is stronger than ever. Watch it here.
In the first 24 hours since the battle filled trailer for the eighth and final season of the blockbuster based on George R.R. Martin’s writings was released in the morning of March 5, the 2-minute spot was viewed 81 million times.
As well as being one Hell of a number unto itself, that 81 million is also an all-time record for any trailer for any HBO show ever across digital platforms like YouTube and Twitter. For those of you who are statheads as well as fans of the battle for the Iron Throne, the previous record for any trailer from the now WarnerMedia-run premium cabler was 61 million views in 24 hours. That was held by the GoT Season 7 trailer that debuted in the summer of 2017.
We’ll update what the peak at the six-episode conclusion of the series executive produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss is at now as more number come in. Currently the trailer is at 37.1 million views on YouTube alone:
However, factoring forward, don’t be surprised if another record is broken when Season 8 premieres on April 14.
The all-time season opener viewership high for the Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Kit Harington and dragons-led Emmy winning series is the 10.11 million who tuned in for the “Dragonstone” Season 7 debut on July 16, 2017. And, if you are a betting woman or man, you might want to consider that the all-time most watched of GoT ever was the Season 7 finale of August 27, 2017, with its audience of 12.07 million.
Or to paraphrase Public Enemy – believe the hype.
