‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere Draws 17.4 Million Viewers, Sets Multi-Platform Record

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – “Game of Thrones” opened to massive ratings on Sunday night.

According to figures released by HBO, the Season 8 premiere drew 17.4 million viewers across all platforms (linear, HBOGO and NOW), including 11.8 million who watched on the linear channel. And that is only those who watched Sunday night. Expect the total viewers to go up considerably once delayed viewing is factored into the final numbers.

The Season 7 premiere, by comparison, averaged 16.1 million total viewers, including 10.1 million who watched on the linear channel and the rest coming from DVR and streaming. That also beats the previous series high of 16.9 million multi-platform viewers for the Season 7 finale. However, the Season 7 finale drew 12.1 million linear viewers, meaning this season’s premiere was down slightly in that measure.

In addition, HBO NOW saw a jump of approximately 50% in viewing when compared to last season’s finale and a 97% increase when compared to the seventh season premiere. This Sunday also accounts for largest night of streaming activity ever for HBO. The Season 8 premiere was also the most-tweeted episode in series history with more than 5 million tweets on Sunday alone.

“” has thus far managed to build on its ratings every season. According to numbers released by HBO–which included delayed viewing, on-demand, and streaming figures–Season 7 of the epic fantasy series averaged 32.8 million viewers per episode back in 2017. The rest of the seasons averaged the following:

-Season 6: 25.7 million

-Season 5: 20.2 million

-Season 4: 19.1 million

-Season 3: 14.4 million

-Season 2: 11.6 million

-Season 1: 9.3 million.