On Sunday night, the ‘Game of Thrones’ premiere got season 7 off to the best start possible by surpassing HBO’s record for show ratings. The Nielsen figures (via Forbes) revealed that the show managed to draw in an audience of 16.1 million total viewers, which includes live and DVR-delayed viewing and streaming on HBO Go and HBO Now.
These figures mark a 50% increase on last years 10.7 million viewers. The feat is even more impressive when you consider that the season has premiered in Summer, which generally sees a lower audience turnout. This means that ‘Game of Thrones’ has easily set the record  for the most watched season premiere in the network’s history.
‘Game of Thrones’ season 6 by comparison managed to average an audience drawing of 25.7 million viewers per episode throughout all of it’s platforms, which in turn makes it the most watched season in HBO’s history. Given that the series has seen a gradual increase in viewers throughout each season, it’s likely that these numbers will be surpassed and new records will be set.
