Game of Thrones season five premiere sets a new overnight viewership records in the US and the UK 

Here is the number we have all been waiting for! Except for those cheeseboying over White Rat instead, naturally. The first hour of 

season five was seen by 7,997,000 people. That rounds up to 8 million, but the show has not made the eight just yet. Another 0,7 million saw the 11 PM repeat, for a night total of 8,7 million. The Nielsen demographic rating itself also set a record with 4.2 (for what it is worth).

I am happy to see that there was another big increase between seasons, even if we are in season five already. The viewership increased by 17 % from the premiere of season four, and the previous record (7.20 million) has been improved by 11 %.

set new records on the premiere night in the UK as well. The reported number is 1.57 million viewers, which represents a 6.7 % share of the audience, 29 % higher than last years opening.

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Congrats…and with the leaks…that makes it MUCH more impressive!

I was worried the ratings might drop due to you-know-what… So glad that’s not the case!

HBO Now worked really well too. I was expecting some issues. HBO Go didn’t work great during premieres and I sometimes waited until Monday after work to watch instead. But Now worked great.

I wonder how higher would the ratings have been if there weren’t any leaks.

Yeah, for all the whining and moaning of some book purists who claim they will quit watching the show, this really shows what a tiny proportion of the audience they really represent.

Wasn’t this the year that definitely the ratings would go down? Or was that season four? I can’t remember. It’s like an annual celebration of absolutely stupid doomsday predictions!

Wow. I’ll be interested to see at the end of the season what the total viewership will be across all platforms, including HBO Now.

I think the 10 milion can be hit this season. Definitely around episode 8 or 9. Maybe 11 on the season finale.

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