HBO’s Game of Thrones is a very popular television series.
This should be as much of a surprise as Littlefinger’s army saving the day in “The Battle of the Bastards.” But it’s fun to put its popularity in context. For instance, during the week of June 13-19, 2016, Game of Thrones was the most-watched show on cable, with 7.6 million viewers. In second place? TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles, with a measly 4 million Angie Harmon fans. Game of Thrones is twice as popular as anything else on cable, and that’s even going against game seven of the NBA Finals, and before you add streaming figures.
That’s when the numbers become record-breaking.
The fantasy series marks the network’s first to run six years while consistently building its audience, HBO says, citing Nielsen and streaming data provided exclusively to USA Today. Through June 17, the series has averaged 23.3 million viewers across all platforms, up 15 percent from last year… Sunday premiere ratings are up 6 percent, to 7.3 million, while overall TV and on-demand viewership is up 4 percent. But viewing on HBO Now and HBO Go digital platforms skyrocketed 70 percent over last season, to about 2.5 million streams. (Via USA Today)
“All platforms” includes the Sunday airing, repeats, DVR, and streaming services HBO Now and HBO Go. Game of Thrones is accomplishing something few shows outside of Breaking Bad have: It’s never been more popular (23.3 million viewers is an unthinkable achievement in the #TooMuchTV era), and it’s never been more critically admired; Thrones won 12 Emmys (the most for any TV show in a single ceremony ever) earlier this year.
The only thing that can stop Game of Thrones is… Game of Thrones.
(Via USA Today)
