HBO renewed ‘Game of Thrones’ just moments after the premiere aired as it previously did for Boardwalk Empire. Deadline reports that while the ratings weren’t terrific, they were solid – which was enough to go for a second season. There’s no doubt that ‘Game of Thrones’ was heavily advertised, and HBO subscribers were obviously curious about the series and what it would entail. Overall, the premiere of Game of Thrones averaged 4.2 million viewers on Sunday for the three airings vs. 7.1 million for Boardwalk Empire in September.
Nellie Andreeva had this to say about it, “In its heavily promoted premiere Sunday night, HBO’s new fantasy series landed between True Blood and Boardwalk Empire ratings-wise. For its debut 9 PM airing, Game of Thrones drew 2.2 million viewers, down 54% from the September premiere of Boardwalk Empire but up 57% from the 1.4 million who tuned in for the debut of True Blood three years ago. Game of Thrones is closer to True Blood in several aspects: it also is a genre series and, like True Blood, it didn’t have a strong promotional platform on HBO.”
So it seems as though ‘Game of Thrones’ was well received for the most part. What’s interesting to note is the fact that most of the viewers reported were young males. And while the ratings aren’t as good as HBO would have hoped, it’s believed that the NBA Playoffs were the reason why it didn’t score as highly as was anticipated. In any event, the show’s been renewed and that’s a huge achievement for them. Now we’ll see as it continues whether or not it will be able to increase its ratings; hopefully so.
