HBO Can Thank ‘Game Of Thrones’ For Record-Setting Ratings

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NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke attend the "Game Of Thrones" Season 8 NY Premiere After Party on April 3, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 03: Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke attend the "Game Of Thrones" Season 8 NY Premiere After Party on April 3, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for HBO)

On April 14, 2019, a record 17.4 million viewers took a chunk out of their Sunday night to enjoy what was the last season premiere of Game of Thrones. HBO released a statement talking about the big night, saying, "Yesterday accounts for largest night of streaming activity ever for HBO."

With the vastly popular show coming to an end soon, it only makes sense that these numbers happened. If the previous trends continue, HBO can expect to see a more significant boost in viewership as the season continues. The show averaged 32.8 million viewers per episode last season, which was up 25.7 million from the previous season.

Fans had to wait close to two years for new medieval madness as the showrunners wanted some more time to finish writing the final six episodes.

Different HBO series saw an increase in views as well. Barry had a series-high amount of people tuned in. Veep and Last Week Tonight also saw fantastic results during the big night. The streaming numbers come from audiences tuned in to HBO traditionally and those who use HBOGO and HBO NOW as their preferred choice. With special celebrity appearances like Ed Shereen in this season, we have a feeling more records are going to get broken this year by HBO.