‘Game of Thrones’ season 3 premiere sets series high for HBO

All in all, we have a feeling that the folks over at HBO have to be throwing themselves a little party with the launch of “Game of Thrones” season 3, For whatever reason the network made the decision to launch the show not only on Easter Sunday, but against the finale of “The Walking Dead” over on AMC and NCAA basketball on CBS; and even with all of this competition in mind, the premiere still managed to be the top-rated episode of the show in its history.

Overall, 4.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the episode live, which is an increase of 13% from last season’s premiere (which was not up against “The Walking Dead” or a popular miniseries like “The Bible”), and also 4% from the previous series high. Over the course of the night, the show brought in a total of 6.7 million viewers, and this figure will probably explode throughout the week thanks to downloads, HBO GO streams, and DVR viewing. Last season, the show brought in over 10 million views over the course of the week, which helped to make this one of the most-successful series ever.

Next week, we certainly anticipate seeing the ratings spike up closer to the 5 million mark; even though “Mad Men” will be premiering, we don’t see it as sharing as much of the same audience with “Game of Thrones” that the zombie drama on AMC does; and with it being the finale, some viewers probably felt obligated to wrap it up before starting something new.

Did you watch the “Game of Thrones” premiere Sunday night, and if so, what did you think? Be sure to share your thoughts, and you can watch a preview for next week’s episode just by heading on over to the link here.

Photo: HBO