In the least surprising news ever, Game of Thrones has been renewed for another season. I wonder if these record setting ratings had anything to do with it. I doubt it.
According to early data, GAME OF THRONES’ season three premiere March 31 on HBO topped the series’ highs, with record viewership for both the 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) airing and gross audience across the three plays. At 9:00 p.m., it averaged 4.4 million viewers, outperforming (+4%) the previous high of 4.2 million viewers from last season’s finale. GAMES OF THRONES improved 13% in comparison to last season’s premiere of 3.9 million viewers. Across the three plays for the night, 6.7 million viewers tuned in, surpassing last season’s debut night of 6.3 million viewers by 7%. Last season, GAME OF THRONES had an average gross audience (HBO linear plays + HBO On Demand/HBO GO + DVR) of 11.6 million viewers.
The fact that Game of Thrones pulled those ratings while airing at the same time as the much anticipated finale of The Walking Dead makes it even more impressive. Rick’s anticlimactic showdown with The Governor set a series ratings record with 12.4 million viewers. Apparently people are finally starting to watch good TV. I can’t think of a better way to have celebrated Easter than with 2 solid hours of excellent on-screen violence.
As for Game of Thrones, this just adds to the pressure on George R.R. Martin. Not only has he signed a deal to develop new shows for HBO, he also still has to finish the last two books in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. That’s right, he’s making this up as he goes along. There’s nothing quite like millions of fans to encourage you to put pen to paper. Hopefully he doesn’t allow the success of certain characters to dictate the direction of the series. Having Ned Stark, whom I as a non-reader assumed would be the main character throughout, get his head chopped off was a big part of what drew me into the show. He should lock himself away in a tower and finish this series off.