Game Of Thrones’ finale episode might be the most watched HBO show of all time, but it’s just had one of its many records broken by another show – Chernobyl.
The show, which came out earlier this year and is comprised of just five episodes, has pulled in a higher percentage of viewers on HBO Go, HBO Now and other streaming platforms than any other show made by the network.
Essentially it means that while Chernobyl has a cumulative viewership of eight million so far, 52% of those who have seen the show accessed it through the network’s digital platforms.
Compare that to Game Of Thrones’ humongous figures – which reached up to 13.6 million for the finale – and it seems tiny, until you hear that the audience share of fans watching via the internet never got over the 46% mark for the whole of season eight.
As it stands, Chernobyl racked in the highest percentage of loyal viewers across HBO’s internet streaming services only compared to its other shows.
The historical drama, which tells the story of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, has already beaten last year’s HBO hit Sharp Objects starring Amy Adams and is expected to surpass the third series of True Detective which currently stands with 8.1 million viewers.
The network’s programming boss, Casey Bloys, said of the landmark figures: ‘Chernobyl shows that a great series will find an audience.’
‘Could not be prouder and so happy the viewers sought it out on our platforms,’ Bloys added to Deadline.
Some viewers aren’t happy with the way the disaster was portrayed however, leading Russia’s NTV channel to create their own drama retelling events in which the accident is blamed on America.
According to reports, the alternative version of the show is based on the conspiracy theory that a CIA agent was snooping around the power plant at the time, and Russian viewers will follow two KGB operatives tasked with bringing him down.
The HBO show, which was shown on Sky Atlantic in the UK, has also had real life consequences as travel to the exclusion zone in what is now known as Ukraine has increased by 30% since the limited series aired.
A number of influencers have come under fire for taking inappropriate and offensive selfies at the site, a practice Chernobyl writer and producer Craig Mazin himself condemned.
‘It’s wonderful that #ChernobylHBO has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion. But yes, I’ve seen the photos going around,’ he wrote to to his 168,000 Twitter followers. ‘If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.’
Chernobyl is available on NowTV.
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