In a surprise to mostly no one,Game of Throneshit a record ratings high with its Season 7 finale, “The Dragon and the Wolf.” PerTHR, the episode scored an all-time high of 16.5 million viewers via live tune-in and night-of streams, which itself broke the series’ previous record that was set just two weeks earlier, which hit 10.7 million viewers. Indeed, this show just keeps getting bigger, as the Season 7 finale had a 36% gain over the Season 6 finale, which scored 8.9 million viewers. And all of this while Season 7 was plagued by leaked episodes and scripts—regardless of the piracy, a vast majority of people still watched the show on Sunday nights.
All in all, the abbreviated seventh season ofGame of Thronesaveraged a jaw-dropping 31 million viewers per episode when factoring in live, time-shifted, on-demand, and streaming plays. This is the biggest show in HBO’s history, and it’s hard to imagine anything topping it anytime soon. The network had success in the past with series likeThe Sopranos, but that show topped out with a series high 13.43 million viewers.Game of Throneshas already surpassed that record and we’re not even into the final season yet.
So now you see it’s no surprise that HBO went public with its plans to produce one (or more)Game of Thronesspinoffs or prequel series. This is a franchise for the network, and although showrunnersDavid BenioffandD.B. Weissmay be done with their story, HBO is working to find ways to extend its life far beyond the conclusion we’ll see in Season 8.
Speaking of, it’s possible the next seasonwon’t even debut until 2019due to the size and scope of the final six episodes, so savor what we got this past Sunday—it could be a very long wait.
For more on the series and its finale, peruse our recent links below.
