Game of Thrones is without a doubt the most popular TV series in the world right now, and has been, for a while. The final season of the show premiered recently, with the first episode receiving a positive welcome from the fans. Now, HBO has revealed the viewership numbers of the episode, and it beats all records that have been set by the show. Read on!
HBO reported a record viewership for the show, at 17.4 million viewers. This surpassed the 16.1 million viewers for the Season 7 premiere, and 16.9 million viewers for the Season 7 finale. These numbers are not unusually high for Game of Thrones, which usually sees every next episode get more viewers than the previous one.
The show returned after almost 600 days, and its return marked “the largest night of streaming activity ever for HBO,” according to HBO itself. The total figure of 17.4 million includes the live TV channel, HBO Go and HBO Now viewership. The live TV viewer count tallied up to 11.8 million, with half the rest of the viewers coming in through HBO Now, reports The Wrap.
To get a perspective, here are the US viewership figures for all the past seasons, including HBO Go and HBO Now viewership up till 30 days after each season finale:
Season 1: 9.3 million
Season 2: 11.6 million
Season 3: 14.4 million
Season 4: 19.1 million
Season 5: 20.2 million
Season 6: 25.7 million
Season 7: 32.8 million
Well, as the anticipation amps up for the final season, viewership figures are only expected to rise. Not to forget that streaming has also become more common in other nations, like India, where fans of the show can watch Game Of Thrones online on Hotstar at the same time it airs in USA. This means more live viewers. The next episode airs on 21st April, and from what we can tell from the preview, the pace picks up.
What do you think? Excited for this season? How are you watching the show, this time around? Talk to us in the comments, down below!
