The sixth season finale of “Game of Thrones” set a record for all-time high live viewers when 8.89 million people tuned in Sunday night.
The mammoth 68-minute episode, “The Winds of Winter,” proved to be the most-watched show in the cable network’s history.
Season six has upped the pace of the show after surpassing the narrative timeline of George R.R. Martin’s book series.
The finale saw a 16 percent rise in viewership compared to “Battle of the Bastards,” even though it was considered one of the most impressive episodes in the show’s history. The finale, directed by Miguel Sapochnik, garnered 10 percent more viewer than the season five finale. The season five finale was previously the most watched episode in the show’s run.
In the highly coveted ages 18-49 demographic, “The Winds of Winter” put up a 4.4 rating — a “Game of Thrones” best — which topped the 4.0 ratings the show had earned twice earlier this season. That demo rating puts “Game of Thrones” right alongside AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and FOX’s “Empire” in terms of 18-49 viewership — and it’s worth nothing that HBO is a premium cable service.
Across all platforms, “Game of Thrones” remains television’s biggest hit by a wide margin. The show’s viewership is up 15 percent compared to last season, resulting in a weekly average of 23.3 million viewers before Sunday night’s season finale.