'Game of Thrones' finale sets records with 13.6 million TV viewers, 19.3 million overall
Bill Keveney"Game of Thrones" sits on the throne – Nielsen, not iron – of ratings measurements, scoring HBO's biggest TV audience ever for Sunday's series finale.
Despite mixed reviews and divided fan reaction, the hugely popular fantasy drama attracted 13.6 million viewers in its initial broadcast Sunday, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings. That's a single-telecast record for the pay-cable network, surpassing the Season 4 premiere of "The Sopranos" (13.4 million) in 2002.
On Sunday, the finale attracted 19.3 million viewers on all platforms (including HBO GO and HBO Now), topping last week's previous series high of 18.4 million viewers.
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The numbers are expected to grow with delayed viewing.
In comparison to the 13.6 million TV viewers Sunday for "Thrones," last week's series finale of "The Big Bang Theory" on CBS attracted 18 million viewers. As a broadcast network, CBS reaches a much larger percentage of the viewing public than HBO, which relies on subscribers.
Those numbers pale in comparison to many past TV finales, including the record-setting 1983 "M*A*S*H" closer, which drew 106 million viewers.
However, "M*A*S*H" and other shows with huge finale ratings flourished during an era when three broadcast networks dominated and shows averaged much larger audiences. With so many cable and streaming offerings now, audiences for individual shows tend to be smaller and opportunities to become large shared experiences, as "Thrones" is, are rarer.
At the same time, social media has created a modern water cooler of sorts to boost interest in shows such as "Thrones," which also can spur increased viewing at the time of the initial telecast.
Considering all platforms along with delayed viewing, HBO says "Thrones" is averaging 44.2 million viewers per episode in gross audience for its eighth and final season, an increase of more than 10 million viewers compared with Season 7.
