Game of Thrones series finale ratings mark HBO’s biggest ever
Well, we’ve got at least a temporary answer, and while the HBO drama didn’t quite end up topping the massive 20 million viewer threshold a lot of people were hoping to see, it is pretty darn impressive nonetheless. The final episode, which you can read more about by heading over to the link here, ended up generating as a whole 19.3 million viewers when you include HBO NOW, HBO GO, and linear viewership on the day. This makes it a bigger total audience that the penultimate episode “The Bells,” which had a little bit more than 18 million viewers.
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As impressive as the aforementioned viewer figures are, there’s another record here that is even more impressive and unlikely to be topped at any point in the near future. This series finale (formally titled “The Iron Throne” — ironic, given what actually happened to the throne in this episode) ended up drawing 13.6 million live viewers to HBO itself — that’s the biggest viewership ever for a single scripted HBO telecast, ahead of an episode of The Sopranos. That is more incredible to us than then 19 million-plus largely due to the fact that there are so many other ways to watch television that don’t just include tuning in to HBO. We actually think that this is a record that could stand a considerably longer period of time than the 19.3 million with that in mind — another show could surpass that watching HBO via a digital platform.
In general, though, just think about how few shows generate more than 10 million weekly viewers — especially now that Game of Thrones and The Big Bang Theory are done and The Walking Dead is a shell of what it was at one point. Think about the flagship NCIS or Young Sheldon, and we’re not altogether sure that the latter will now that its lead-in and the original version of show is over and done with.
For some more news regarding the future of Game of Thrones as a franchise…
Check out the link here, as it is within that piece that we talk a little bit further about the prequel series, and what else that HBO may eventually strive to do when it comes to the long-term future of this show.
What do you think about the Game of Thrones series finale ratings and, to go along with this, do you think that this viewership record is one that the series is going to hold on HBO for a tremendously long period of time? Be sure to share right now in the comments, and check back soon for some other insight. (Photo: HBO.)