No episode of HBO’s Game of Thrones between seasons one and six had crossed the nine million live viewers threshold. It happened for every episode in season seven: episodes two and three were in the 9-10 million range; the premiere and episodes four, five, and six were between 10-11 million; and the season seven finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf,” brought in an incredible 16.5 million viewers. The MTV Video Music Awards never stood a chance.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the episode “marked a 13 percent increase from the the previous mark set two weeks earlier (10.7 million viewers), and a 36 percent gain over last year’s finale (8.9 million viewers). It was also up 19 percent from this year’s debut, which clocked in at 10.1 million viewers.” The number will grow even higher once time-shifted, DVR, and on-demand figures are added (this season has averaged 31 million viewers).
But now that Game of Thrones is gone until late 2018 but more likely 2019, HBO has a Mountain-sized, ratings-gobbling hole in it schedule, at least until Westworld returns next spring. Insecure and Curb Your Enthusiasm are critical hits, but their viewerships are smaller than season one of Thrones, while The Deuce is unlikely to become a blockbuster (although it’s very good).
Maybe HBO can add a dragon to Vice Principals, or something.
(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
