Some 16.5 million viewers tuned in Sunday night either via live viewing or night-of streaming to watch the season-seven finale of HBO’s Game of Thrones, the highest numbers in the series’ history and the highest numbers ever scored by an HBO series.
Just over 12 million viewers tuned in to watch live, making “The Dragon and the Wolf,” the most-watched live episode in the series’ history. The season-seven finale was up 36% over the season-six finale, “The Winds of Winter,” which saw 8.9 million viewers tune in to watch it the night it aired.
While the shortened seven-episode season was widely criticized for being uneven and too quickly paced, the season as a whole was up more than 20% in both total viewers and among adults 18-49, according to Variety. Some 10.1 million viewers tuned in live to watch the season premiere, and numbers for that episode climbed to 16.1 million total viewers when streaming numbers were added.
But what really shows the series’ reach are how many viewers are watching in total, with season-seven episodes averaging 30.6 million viewers each, up nearly 8 million viewers and 35% from last season.
Game of Thrones has increased its viewership each year since season one, with the first season averaging 2.5 million viewers per episode in live-plus-same-day ratings. An estimated 90% of all HBO subscribers in the U.S. watch the series, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The show is now officially television’s most-watched, out-pacing AMC’s The Walking Dead. In 2015, it eclipsed The Sopranos to become the most popular program in HBO’s history.
Notably, streaming has become much more popular since the series premiered in 2011. HBO didn’t launch its stand alone streaming service, HBO Now, until spring 2015, although HBO subscribers could stream the service via HBO Go starting in February 2010.
The series will conclude with a final six episodes that aren’t yet scheduled to air, although the premium cable network is saying it could be as long as 2019 before they premiere. Shooting for the show’s eighth and final season begins in October.
READ MORE: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter
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