We have all followed the ratings as they were coming in, so of course we know that there is a nice and steady upward trend to them, evident in the graphics. Taking the first repeat later the same night into account does not change the picture, as it standardly added another 0.8 or 0.9 million to the first airing figure. The rise was slow, though, and we will have to wait until season 2 for any explosions. Game of Thrones did consistently better than True Blood in its first season, and caught up with Boardwalk Empire by the end of its run. After the break I continue the discussion by first listing the difference between the premiere and the finale (in million viewers) of the first season for a number of shows:
•The Sopranos: +1.7 (49%)
•True Blood: +1.2 (86%)
•Boarwalk Empire: -1.6 (-33%) overall; upward trend from the 4th episode: +0.6 (23%)
•Game of Thrones: +0.8 (36%)
•Rome: +3.3 (87%)
•The Tudors: -0.2 (-22%)
•Spartacus: +0.5 (71%)
•The Walking Dead +0.6 (11%)
As to long term combined ratings, the reports differ a bit. The average viewership per episode in season one stands at either 8.3 (according to EW) or 8.9 million (according to TV by the Numbers). I believe these are measured over the first 2 weeks of airing per individual episode. Either way, here is a comparative graph (courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter) of the latest season combined numbers for other HBO shows, and as you can see Game of Thrones has done exceedingly well in its inaugural season.
What to expect next? Well, in my experience and according to anecdotal reports, the show gets even better a) on rewatch and/or b) when you watch several episodes back to back. This bodes well for the hype build-up between seasons and the DVD sales. When looking at the increase in ratings between the S1 finale and the S2 premiere, the rule of the thumb seems to be that successful shows manage to add 50% to their numbers. This means that the benchmark for Game of Thrones should be at around 4.5 million. We will have a post with a more detailed anlysis closer to the relevant date, of course.
Source: Winter-is-Coming
Interesting to see it's doing better than True Blood did in its first season!
ReplyDeleteIt will be more interesting to see if it rises as much as True Blood did in the second season.
ReplyDeleteHa! True!
ReplyDeleteI think the more people that watch it, the more people like Game of Thrones. I have told a few people that hadn't heard of it or didn't plan on watching it and they were season long fnas after a few episodes. I hope word of mouth is strong over the hiatus!
Maybe next year it will explode in the ratings like True Blood did. :D
ReplyDeleteEither way, impressive first season on all fronts. I can't barely wait for season 2!
Same. I think the...passionate...fans of True Blood is what helped it get such high S2 ratings. I've gotten three or four people to watch it since it went off and hopefully once the DVDs are released I'll be able to hook some more people.
ReplyDeleteI've heard some people are planning GoT viewing parties before the second season begins so that might draw in some new viewers.
Thanks for linking, it's really interesting seeing the before and after shots.
ReplyDeleteI thought that was amazing too!! Right after I read the article I went and re-watched those scenes to see if I could tell ... XD
ReplyDeleteThe nice thing about a 10-episoide season is that it is pretty easy to watch in one day as a marathon!
ReplyDeleteI bet there will be some awesome theme parties doing just that next year before Season Two airs. I'll probably have a few people over, but no Lemoncakes or theme foods. I may have some horns of ale though if HBO decides to sell some "Horn mugs"...
It's interesting that GoT started stronger than True Blood and, although it ended stronger as well, the overall growth was greater for True Blood. Would this have any impact on the general growth for next season? I think that True Blood is an easier show to jump into partway.
ReplyDeleteIt's also interesting that, in overall viewers, GoT is HBO's 5th highest watched show ever! Only 3-4 million behind True Blood as it stands currently. I would be interested in seeing where True Blood stood overall in its first season for comparisons sake
One very promising aspect of these ratings is that Rome had 2 million fewer viewers overall than GoT. Rome was canceled due to its expense, but HBO has stated that DVD sales COULD have kept Rome alive for another season or two and that their cancellation may have been premature. Furthermore, Rome's first season purportedly cost something like 100 million dollars compared to GoT's 60-75 million. This bodes well for getting a 3rd season (or more) of GoT. If ratings are higher, production costs are lower, AND DVD sales go well (which I imagine they will), we could actually be looking at 4th and 5th seasons or more :D.
What I hope is that HBO decides to release the DVDs earlier than they normally would (i.e. a month before the next season airs). I mean, from a marketing perspective, I see the purpose of releasing so close to the airing of the next season as there will be more immediate hype. I just think that bigger DVD sales + more time for more viewers to get involved would be awesome for ratings.
I for one will have the Blu-ray/DVD as soon as humanly possible.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on all points.
ReplyDeleteI know BBC series are released withiin weeks after the series ends often times. It's not the same I guess since HBO tends to put a lot into the packaging and bonus materials etc.
Personally, I would love it to come out for the Christmas shopping season by the latest! Gift sales bump up numbers and it's the perfect time to get family members who may not have watched Season One into the series.
Absolutely. I NEVER get shows on DVD until they come way down in price. I still don't own things like Fringe S2 although I'm a raging Fringeophile. I started watching Scrubs and The West Wing because the DVDs are 10-20$ a season when on sale.
ReplyDeleteAND YET, without even owning a Blu-Ray player yet, I have pre-ordered the set from amazon already at full price. This means investing in a a PS3 and an HDTV.
Ah, this is true. I hadn't even considered that. I want them to do a phenomenal job with extras and packaging. If they could include every single one of the featurettes and BTS videos, I would be a very happy fan.
ReplyDeleteIn that case, yes, 6 months until Christmas giving them plenty of time to do right by the hardcore fans, leaving 4 months until the next season is a very good idea. Good call.
I might just have to go and do that now! The shot of Tyrion in the cell made me laugh though, it looked so scary on the show but actually it's like a two foot drop.
ReplyDeleteI agree. It bugs me when I have to wait ages to be able to buy a show on DVD, but if it means getting a whole load of awesome special features then I'm happy to wait. I hope GoT includes some good commentaries, they'd be really interesting to listen to especially if they compare it to the books.
ReplyDeleteI want all the features we have seen little snippets of, but I want the full length interviews! Unedited with bloopers. XD
ReplyDeleteThen a couple lengthy features abot the journey from book to screen, the casting process, GRRM's involvement throughout and some I cannot think of too!
There are some great free programs to stream video files from your pc to the PS3 too. I have relatives that use one (I forget the name) name and its spiffy! Makes your PC and PS3 into a media server basically.
ReplyDeleteThe program @yahoo-IJIMDNY3LXKKMQU46F2ZTQVKXA:disqus is talking about is PS3 Media Server and it kicks serious ass. It is very easy to setup and can stream just about any file type to your PS3. It's also a fast way to copy media files from your PC to your PS3.
ReplyDeleteSorry if that sounded like and endorsement but it is a really great program any PS3 owner should have. Also, the PS3 will be dropping in price in August if you want to hold off on getting it.
Wait, what!? Where did you hear about this price drop!? That would be incredible :D. I've been saving up 345$ for the occasion (it's 299.99$ in Canada), but would love to spend less!
ReplyDelete"Sony will announce a big European price cut for the PS3, dropping it
ReplyDeletefrom its current £255 to £179.99. There's no direct U.S. conversion for
that, as Europeans tend to pay a lot more for video game hardware, but ShackNews
estimates that if the price cut carries over to this territory, the PS3
could drop to somewhere in the $200-$250 range, down from its current
$299.99 price point."
That is in fact the program I was thinking of! Perfect for playing those 720p MKV's you have that can be problematic on a PS3... or any files.
ReplyDeleteI never recall the program name since I don't have a PS3 and use SageTV for all my TV recording,watching and streaming etc, but that PS3 Media Server is awesome!
Apparently S1 of True Blood had 6.8 million total weekly viewers (compared to GoT S1 average of somewhere between 8.3 and 8.9). The second season then premiered to 3.7 million. I'd like to see GoT S2 jump to 4 million if at all possible :). Still, we're outpacing True Blood by a fair amount. Here's to hoping we see a continued upwards trend.
ReplyDeleteWhoa whoa whoa... Link me to an explanation please? I have a PS3 and this sounds awesome :)
ReplyDelete