Image Credit: HBO
The second episode of Game of Thrones delivered the same number of viewers as last week’s premiere. Sunday’s 9 p.m. airing was seen by 2.2 million viewers, matching last week. The 11 p.m. repeat drew another 732,000, also in line with premiere night. Meanwhile the first episode has since climbed to 6.8 million thanks to OnDemand and all of HBO’s extra airings.
So is this good news? Bad news? Mostly good…
HBO’s two biggest concerns about Thrones were that viewers either wouldn’t show up for the premiere because the series is (gasp!) fantasy, or they would take one look at the first episode and decide “this isn’t for me.” Neither of those things happened.
Would some growth have been nice? Yeah. But it was also Easter Sunday, so nobody expected the number to leap this week. Now as long as stabbing a certain furry character didn’t turn off too many people…
Related: HBO answers your Game of Thrones renewal questions
Oh, almost forgot: Thrones was followed by the Treme second season premiere, which drew 605,000 viewers. Wha-whaaa.
Best show on TV…it is known.
it is known
it is known
it is known
it is known
it is known
it is known
it is known
It is know.
It is known. (I had to read everything until I found out that the beautiful wolf dog Lady, whose character met a sad demise this week, is happily living with the actress who plays Sansa Stark. Whew!)
@ Lily – yes, b/c it was in doubt for a while there whether they had actually killed the canine actor
It is know.
hodor?
That’s a huge drop-off from Thrones to Treme. I’m sure HBO cant be happy about that. Considering its such a dramatic change of genres, I’m not surprised so many Throne watchers jumped ship after the ep was over.
Who cares about ratings. The bottom line is HBO wants NEW subscribers. Are they getting them? I doubt it if the figures are the same as last week. I don’t think this is good news for HBO.
Lee – That statement makes no sense. 1) The first weekend was a free preview weekend so numbers remaining steady could mean a lot of people who watched it for free did subscribe. 2) Numbers being steady in has no bearing on how many new subscribers came in for GoT BEFORE the first episode. 3) Who cares about ratings? HBO does, I guarentee. HBO needs to know how many new subscribers a show brings in and how many of their current subscribers are watching a show, as well as the buzz a show is creating in general.
It is known.
It is known.
Damn, Merry Bear, you beat me to it!
Yeah, but it needed to be done twice. Well done.
Steady is good. Growth will come.
As will winter!
even if it doesn’t, i think it’ll stand on being a cult hit with damn fine ratings. i hope. i’d love to see it overtake the books. maybe grrm will publish faster…
That’s what I was thinking, too! He’s not going to be able to wait years and years between books now.
I’d say the fact that they kept the same number of viewers is very impressive considering how many cable companies where holding free preview weekends during the premier. I know that that is the only reason I got to watch the first episode. I would order HBO but that extra $15 just isn’t in the budget (sad, I know).
I know many areas did have free HBO for the weekend. Very impressive.
Perhaps more impressive is the number of people who signed up for a subscription.
You may want to call your provider and see if they have any deals. We were going to cancel Showtime/Cinemax and just keep HBO, but they gave us a deal that cost less than just HBO. Sweet!
True Blood didn’t REALLY hit its stride until the end of the first season and the early part of the second. I think it’s too early to judge Game of Thrones’ long-term prognosis, but I’d say there’s more reason to be optimistic than not.
I’m more curious to see how the long-term audience, especially those not familiar with the books, reacts to the high volume of cast turnover that the series will eventually have. This isn’t like True Blood, Big Love, Sex and the City or even The Sopranos, where the core cast will stay more or less the same throughout.
I think the biggest hurdles for Game of Thrones:
Getting to know the characters and becoming invested in them.
Not getting turned off by the violence, nudity, and shocks (cute character thrown off window, young girl getting taken, perhaps against her will, by her husband, cute wolf-puppy getting killed).
His name is Summer!
(high volume of cast turnover)
That was my biggest issue with the Pacific.
I think the cast turnover is being greatly exaggerated by fans of the series. Yes, major characters die, but certainly not the majority, no more than your typical Joss Whedon show. Ok, maybe a bit more, but not THAT many.
It’s not just about people dying. The story seem to be moving pretty fast (time wise). So not only will they keep getting new characters, they will also have to replace the current ones so as to be more age appropriate for their roles. Mis-cast could be an issue as well as not being able to connect with them. I’m assuming that’s what he meant……..
I think people just need to realize that this show has no specific hero for you to follow and root for. It is after all called The Game Of Thrones. If they can get past that, they’ll be just fine.
I think viewers are going to be very shocked @ who we lose in the first season. If you’re not a reader, just know that no one in these books is safe, ever. It reminds me of Oz in that way. Oz never had a problem killing off big characters.
In today’s age keeping the exact number is an accomplishment for cable or even regular tv. No dip whatsoever and on a holiday weekend. Impressive.
It will also be interesting to see the on demand numbers. I know that is how I watch it
Rob, we have a problem here (but we DO have mutually awesome first names). Maybe I’ll be “that OTHER Rob” next time.
Its good they didnt drop but still a show like this deserves so much better. Shows like Hung and Entourage on HBO get bigger ratings than 2.2m. Hopefully they start to grow as the season goes on.
This is good; really glad they didn’t fall, especcially considering the holiday weekend. I do hope they grow over time, especcially from season 1 to season 2. HBO should definitely try to release the DVD with enough time for people who haven’t see the show to get hooked and tune in for season 2.
Another genre breaking hit for HBO. I only wish more networks like SHO, AMC and the aforementioned would be this brave, at least with ideas if not adult content for network TV.
Starz produces great period series and mini series like Spartacus and Camelot. And Showtime has done The Tudors and The Borgias.
camelot? LOL.. not even great at all..
Will we get Monday ratings as well for GoT today?
Good news, in my opinion. Once word of mouth gets around about how great the series is, the numbers will only go up. Having read the book, I can safely say that the quality of the show will ramp up throughout the first season and only get better.
The series is so flawless considering all the hurdles. If people can’t appreciate it I’d rather have it end early than cast pearls before swine.
The season gets better with each and every episode. It is known…by the few who have seen the entire series. DO NOT MISS A SINGLE EPISODE. History is being made.
“History is being made.”
Bingo!!
episode one didnt’ impress me, thought things would pick up during episode two. NOT !!! All I can say is I fast forwarded through most of this mess, stopped only when the wolf was snacking on some dude’s throat, the hot scene with the 2 chicks, and at the end when the kid turned into a zombie. I won’t be tuning in for any more episodes. Nice try HBO !! time to move on to something else
No kids were made into zombies during this episode…Bran woke up from a comatose state.
It’s epic fantasy, so it moves at an epic pace. There’s lots of bad people doing bad things to other people for quite some time (then in later books, the bad people switch, becoming more sympathetic, and the good guys less sympathetic). Some shows connect with some people, some don’t. I look at the top rated shows on TV and wonder, how can people LIKE this stuff when there’s this OTHER show where this British dude who’s an alien wears a bow-tie and rides around in a time-machine shaped like a big blue box… How could they not like THAT? Then I dance around like a di ck to the theme music, thinking to myself, god I’m such a TARDIS.
Oh yeah! mmm….. Tacos
Once again Del Taco you have shown why we are enemies for life. There is nothing good or redeeming about you. I hope you die sad and alone.
It’s gratifying that someone with your razor sharp intellect doesn’t get it….
Not that HBO would like this, but I noticed that GoT Ep. 1&2 are #1 and #2 for the most downloaded TV shows on Pirate’s Bay.
It is kn0wn …. :}
Wondering what the full live + OnDemand + repeat airings #s are to compare to that 6million total viewers for the pilot. Also, did we ever get a DVR viewership # for the first episode?
Anne, I think monday viewership for the premiere brought the total to 5.4 million, so DVR + OnDemand (and maybe a few unique viewers on the other showings during the week) must have been about 1.4 million.