Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 1 ratings at a new all-time high
The Game of Thrones ratings are in. The Season 8 premiere brought in a new all-time high when looking at all platforms. What about HBO viewers alone?
Game of Thrones certainly had an excellent night. The ratings for Season 8, Episode 1 are in and HBO probably couldn’t be happier. They’re at an all-time high, setting a record for the series finale to beat.
In an episode that was all about reunions, 17.4 million viewers tuned in across the various platforms available. The highest before this had been the Season 7 finale, at 16.9 million. Compared to the Season 7 premiere, the total audience figures were up by 8.07%. More than an extra million tuned in!
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This isn’t that surprising. HBO NOW, the streaming service that allows viewers to watch on the go and catch up with previous episodes, increased by more than 50% compared to the seventh season finale, according to a HBO press release. The subscriptions were up by 97% compared to the premiere.
When it comes to the HBO channel viewers, 11.8 million watched live. This was up from the 10.1 million that tuned in for the Season 7 premiere, which had been 27% up from the season 6 premiere.
HBO channel-only viewers were down 2.3% from the Season 7 finale. This could be due to more people watching through the streaming platforms. However, it is also linked to the current Dish dispute, which meant not all areas got to watch through the channel.
The viewers for Game of Thrones certainly helped the other shows on the network. Barry had its largest ever audience with 2.2 million across all platforms and Veep saw its largest audience since June 2016 with 1.5 million viewers. Last Week Tonight With John Oliver was also up to 1.7 million viewers across all platforms, the latest since August 2017.
It’s an excellent start to the next six weeks. Chances are the third episode, which is slated to be the Battle of Winterfell, and the finale will see larger viewerships.
Next. What you may have missed in Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 1. dark
How did you watch Game of Thrones last night? What did you think of the Season 8 premiere? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Game of Thrones Season 8 continues on Sundays at 9/8c on HBO.