It’s Tuesday, and this means – ratings! Even when Game of Thrones has completed its run. Apparently I am not the only one who likes shiny graphs; thank you for your comments of eager anticipation. While I am far from being any kind of a guru of design, I do like to have my numbers visually represented. So here it is, by (moderately) popular demand – the comparative graph of season one first airing ratings (click to enlarge).
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.
Some time later, once all the numbers are in (with no little thanks to Martin, @WyvernWood), we will also take a look at the successful UK viewership figures.
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.
Hear Me Roar: I have always been an optimist and I may have hoped for the show to exceed the 3 million mark already before the finale, but realistically there’s only that much growth you can achieve over 10 episodes (of a serialized narrative demanding viewers to be really invested, at that). Rising popularity trends on all fronts, not solely in the viewership itself, are an indication of great success for a new show, and I can already hardly wait for the season 2 premiere ratings.
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112 Comments
I think this is really good news actually. The steady upward trend over the course of the season was a pleasant surprise. I kind of expected a Boardwalk Empire situation, where we premiered big, then dropped like a stone. Between On Demand and DVD sales, I think we’ll be in good shape for season2. Will we get True Blood numbers? I highly doubt it, but that doesn’t mean the show is unsuccessful. HBO is more interested in subscribers anyway.
MichelleQuote Reply
I am absolutely happy with this. I just read the review of the season on IGN and it got a 9.5/10 which is unique. There wasn’t a single negative comment as well (I also read the Falling Skies review and the comments there were mostly negative).
I predict a huge BluRay sale and and maybe a budget or episode count correction by HBO…
Chris77Quote Reply
Yes, are we taking bets how many viewers ep. 201 will get?
I wonder how that 8.3/8.9 (very big) difference came to happen and if those numbers will rise anyfurther now alot of Truebies are trying to catch up (for example, Boardwalk Empire was at 10.5 the last episode and is now 10.7 in the graphs).
And I’ll state again HBO would be crazy out of their minds if they didn’t release this baby before christmas (but I have no high hopes for it).
KnurkQuote Reply
Rome`s viewership increased by 3.3 million in one season!!!!!!!!Wow,that is news to me
WhirrunQuote Reply
people need to stop hoping for budget and/or episode increase for season 2, those things will not be changed at this stage as Sue Nagle has said.
KnurkQuote Reply
Why aren’t you writing about the whole Amazon.de sending out A Dance With Dragons books early (today)??? I’d think this is quite huge news, that there was a mixup and two weeks earlier the books are available for readers? And rumours that some Australian onlien bookstores have set the sending date to 01.07!?
Come on, we want the official story from GRRMs side, or the agent’s, or the publisher’s o whoever!!! :)
Michał MłynarskiQuote Reply
Knurk,
I actually disagree. I think HBO does the smart thing and releases previous seasons of its shows in a way that helps market the upcoming season. Releasing Season One at Christmas would mean competing with a lot of other shows (and a lot of other gifts period). Releasing it just before the premiere of Season Two means it gets a stage unto itself which carries over into the season that is airing.
OmagusQuote Reply
Michał Młynarski,
because there is nothing to talk about, a fuck-up on the german Amazon and non-verified info that Australia will be releasing it sooner. And of course this is a site about the tv-show, although there will be an ADWD thread.
KnurkQuote Reply
I wonder what the subscriber base was for the first episode of GoT compared to BE.
Belwas’s stoolQuote Reply
Hi guys, first-time poster, long-time reader. Didn’t know where to put this but I need confirmation. Just got email from Amazon.de that ADWD is on its way to me? WTF? Did I hit my head this morning and woke up two weeks later?! Oh please someone else from Germany or somewhere else have that same sweet mirage in their in-box or pinch me really hard!
geierkreisenQuote Reply
Yes, it got leaked early on Amazon.de.
TheImpQuote Reply
That was a great chart. I had no idea that Boardwalk Empire sank like a stone after its first two episodes, only recovering to a bit above 3 million viewers. I was definitely worried that something like that might happen to Game of Thrones, but it didn’t. Hopefully we’ll see ratings above 4 million next season.
I’d love to see the show get a third season (and more), but getting A Clash of Kings made into a season guaranteed is some manner of consolation. It’s my favorite book in the series.
BrettQuote Reply
many germans got it … sadly not me… yet … still need to wait till thursday!
mistake from amazone were only for a few hours… many ordered it in these few hours… a few got late and they fixed the date.
but still lots of people got deliverydate in the next few days… we will see if they (me to) get their dance :) hope so!
Thanx @ hear me roar for the chart! Hope GoT will do better next year!
Matthias HinkelmannQuote Reply
Boardwalk Empire had twelve episodes to build audience ratings, GOT only ten. I think we all would like to believe that two more eps of the calibre of the last two would have seen continued, albeit small, increases for GOT.
I’m still not convinced BE is going to survive, however. HBO just greenlit yet another contemporary drama series for development (this makes at least three, “Luck” and “As This Story Develops”) –another literary adaption, “The Big Girls,” about a psychiatrist in a women’s prison— showing that it continues to look for tentpole prospects beyond its current roster of dramas.
DH87Quote Reply
A couple more glimmers of good news: GoT has now definitively surpassed The Walking Dead’s peak in search frequency, despite still-lower media references:
http://www.google.com/trends?q=game+of+thrones%2C+the+walking+dead&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=0
And the show’s most popular preview is approaching 1 million views on Youtube. Not bad since there are roughly 1 million previews and clips total on there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ5p18wIQEI
Maxwell JamesQuote Reply
DH87,
I’d be surprised if BE did not get at least 3 seasons, given its overall viewership figures (esp. in comparison with HBO’s lagging subscribership), international popularity, and pedigree. Plus it will probably be very competitive for the Emmys – more so than GoT I would think.
That said, you’re right that from a ratings perspective it looks a bit disappointing. Will be interesting to see where it starts in the fall.
I also wonder if strategically, HBO is actually looking to expand their number of flagship series, as a way of further differentiating themselves from Netflix. While a lot gets made of TV production budgets, as a fraction of networks’ overall budgets they’re actually pretty low.
Maxwell JamesQuote Reply
Maxwell James,
Even after the season is over, that preview remains one of the best things about this show.
darksofaQuote Reply
This sux so much because now I will be afraid to visit any Song of ice and fire sites in fear of spoilers for the next 2-4 weeks ><
FishQuote Reply
me like some shiny graphs. thanks a lot guys!!
marzmanQuote Reply
Budget -
One thing about the production budget, much of the expense used in the 1st season will be lessened in the 2nd. The locations are built, many of the costumes and armor pieces have been assembled, the creative teams will need far fewer resources and money for these endeavours. So even if the budget remains static there should be a lot more money available for the 2nd season that wasn’t available in the 1st.
I’m really no worried about the budget, the 1st season was amazing and it left me wanting more which is what it’s supposed to do.
Girt the GreatQuote Reply
Omagus,
Well, considering most HBO subscribers have some sort of On Demand service plust HBO GO, I’m not sure what incentive there is.
I personally would love to have this at Christmas, GoT would be an instant gift for friends and family who are deprived of HBO content.
Girt the GreatQuote Reply
I said this over on http://www.spoilertv.com, but I’ll say it here as well.
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.
It’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.
John AsplerQuote Reply
Yep. Also got an email that my order is on the way. Apparantly Amazon.de dropped the ball somehow with accidentally sending a number of Books two weeks earlier than they were supposed to.
CookieQuote Reply
Oh no… this Danishgate is going to keep me off any GoT sites for the next two weeks. I can’t take any chances of being spoiled on ADWD.
Eric BigpictureQuote Reply
There’s already a bunch of spoiler threads filling up over at Westeros.
PatDQuote Reply
I’m one of those viewers that falls into the group of people that feel other shows have been ruined by GoT. True Blood is one of the first shows since GoT’s finale that I watch that I’ve noticed a falling interest in. I tried watching it’s season premiere Sunday night and I got all “meh” right away, turned it off and thought maybe I’ll watch it later On Demand. I’ve also caught replays of the first two episodes of Falling Skies and all I can think is, “What?! This is suppose to be a fantastic series?” In my opinion it’s been OKAY, but nothing more than basically a SyFy original movie extended into a series. Maybe slightly better than that to be fair, but not that much. So far I’m less impressed with it than V and that got cancelled.
ClobQuote Reply
first season had an average of 6.8, the second season went to 12.4 (!!). Their second season started with 3.7 million viewers, I’d say that’s a nice goal for GoT.
KnurkQuote Reply
Clob,
The Martin book effect translated to tv series? wow :)
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
BTW, Hear Me Roar. Where did you get the ‘Rome’ numbers? Looking into the wikipediapage and those sources that are used there are kind of shabby.
KnurkQuote Reply
Girt the Great,
Great points!
Ours Is The FuryQuote Reply
UK figures are a slight dissapointment – Epsiode 9 combined figures now in, with the lowest of any episode in the series.
Combined table with current figures as follows:
First column are confirmed weekly totals (bracketed = confirmed first showing figures)
[figures in these brackets are overnight figures for first airing and % of totall viewing]
Eps 1 – we 24Apr …….. 1,852,000 (1,454,000) ……. [743,000 3.2%]
Eps 2 – we 01May ……. 1,641,000 (1,158,000) ……. [531,000 2.1%]
Eps 3 – we 08May ……. 1,584,000 (1,156,000) ……. [506,000 1.9%]
Eps 4 – we 15May ……. 1,352,000 (1,116,000) ……. [628,000 2.6%]
Eps 5 – we 22May ……. 1,429,000 (1,091,000) ……. [522,000 2.2%]
Eps 6 – we 29May ……. 1,621,000 (1,182,000) ……. [626,000 2.6%]
Eps 7 – we 5June ……. 1,556,000 (1,157,000) ……. [527,000 2.0%]
Eps 8 – we 12June ……. 1,360,000 (1,047,000) ……. [523,000 2.2%]
Eps 9 – we 19June ……. 1,351,000 (1,043,000) ……. [507,000 2.1%]
Eps 10 – we 26June …………………………………….. [667,000 2.7%]
Still comfortably better than S1 True Blood (initial broadcast on FX – non terrestrial, subscription channel) and Boardwalk Empire.
Shame to see a drop off of figures over episodes 6 through to 9 though. For whatever reason it looks as though viewers did leave the show. I suspect there was a bit of an over-performance at the beginning, and a settling down of viewers as it progressed.
Martin EQuote Reply
I’m reading a Clash of Kings right now and it’s not a simple as this. Costumes and armor pieces can be reused and repurposed. Location wise, there are a bunch of new locations.
Riverrun
Pyke
Dragonstone
Harrenhal
Qarth
Storm’s End
King’s Landing Blackwater and riverfront
fuelpaganQuote Reply
And True Blood’s season 4 premiere from yesterday gets 5.4 million, the second most watched episode ever.
KnurkQuote Reply
I’ve put a table together showing Game of Thrones UK figures in comparison with:
Boardwalk Empire (S1) – Sky Atlantic Broadcast
True Blood (S2) – FX Satellite (not the later Channel 4 terestrial broadcast).
Shows GoT figures favourably, despite the show not holding onto viewers consistently.
Table can be seen here
Gaps are present in some of the lines due to lack of data on the BARB site
Martin EQuote Reply
Knurk,
Yeah I watched TB season 4 premiere. I’ve watch TB since the opening premiere 3 years ago without fail. But I have no desire to watch next week. I may end up watching it, but that need to see it as soon as I can just isn’t there anymore. Game of Thrones has ruined all other fantasy TV. Like Clob said, Falling Skies was meh at best.
fuelpaganQuote Reply
Amazon.de is the German site, not the Danish one (that would be .dk)
Dang, hope they still send them out, ordered yesterday (finished AFFC just yesterday;)), have no shipping confirmation yet…
If sales are high and the season 2 premiere rocks, we will get a great Season 3…
PS: And I still have my fingers crossed for a Usurper War miniseries…
Chris77Quote Reply
Me too. I’ve always liked True Blood and the first episode of series 4 was just dire. I don’t know if it’s because I got used to QUALITY TV, but it was really bad.
TeeQuote Reply
I know it’s somewhat off topic, but I wonder what happened with True Blood’s 5th episode? It’s such a big outlier. Ep4: ca. 2 million, Ep5: ca. 1 million, Ep6: again ca. 2 million.
Was there some special sports event that day, or some major news?
morbiczerQuote Reply
The dance news absolutely sucks because you know there is going to be one asshole out there who will post spoilers without warning just because they can.
Please fans who read it early can you give a spoiler warning before talking about dance in a topic.
Jessica C.Quote Reply
I’m definitely staying away from all ASOIAF related sites.
TeeQuote Reply
It’s not TV, it’s HBO, except we still cancel programming when it doesn’t do well in the ratings or cost us too much. Happily, I don’t think GOT has anything to worry about, unlike Carnivale. I still get bummed thinking about that cancellation.
I also think BE has at least two more seasons based on the names involved.
FrankinnjQuote Reply
I’m avoiding the Westeros Forums entirely until I have the book on my Kindle (or in my hands, since I’m getting both). I’ve committed to avoiding spoilers, but having them in front of your face all the time, just one click away, would probably prove overwhelming.
Best not to risk it in the first place. It’s already hard as it is – I have this nagging voice in the back of my head that says, “You’ve been waiting six years, and you can know what has happened to Jon/Tyrion/Daenerys/Jaime/Bran/Cersei right now!”
BrettQuote Reply
Carnivale’s second season was, IMHO, not nearly as good as the first, likely because showrunner Ron Moore had left.
TulseQuote Reply
Indeed. It was about as goofy as a comic book and completely over the top. (Not that comics are bad.)
HollyoakQuote Reply
I’ve had a look at scans of the maps in ADWD but that’s as far as I’m going to spoil myself.
Hopefully most places will keep spoilers undercontrol but I am thinking of staying away from any ASOIAF sites if not the whole Internet (I remember being spoiled on who died in the Serenity movie on a totally unrelated forum).
MormegilQuote Reply
Someone in Serenity dies?!! Now the movie’s ruined for me!
:-)
TulseQuote Reply
Do any of these numbers feature online viewers through HBOGO and other on demand streaming sources? Since legal online streaming is something new that wasn’t there when most of the other shows aired shouldn’t the true viewer numbers be higher since the Nielsen numbers only show part of the viewership?
Ingemar SvenssonQuote Reply
Chris77,
Oh, darn. Danishgate sounds so much more delicious than Deutschgate. :)
Eric BigpictureQuote Reply
I wouldn’t mind knowing who the new POV characters are.
*crossing fingers hoping for Petyr*
What? You guys didn’t like the light fruit or the light grenades, or the vanishing grandfather, or the missing year, or Tara “Let’s Get Ready to RUUUMBLLLE” Thornton, or the Fairies that look like Kevin Cronin of REO Speedwagon? Me neither.
If I keep watching it’s only to watch Deborah Ann Woll. I really can’t get enough of her. *fanning self with both hands*
Mike ChairQuote Reply
Mike Chair,
Yeah, Deborah is great. Would make a great Ygritte.
PS: How do I get an Avatar next to my name?
Chris77Quote Reply
Chris77,
Sign in via Twitter or Facebook.
KnurkQuote Reply
Chris77,
Knurk,
Or sign up for a Gravatar account using the same email you use to post here.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Yeah Random Alliance Guard #17, it was a big shock when I read it.
Well all but one (not inc the epilogue) were already known but now you’ve got me wondering who the unknown one is.
MormegilQuote Reply
just wondering, did anyone else hear the rumor that Paul Bettany will be playin Jaqen H’ghar in season 2?
CorbQuote Reply
Count me in as another TB viewer who wasn’t impressed by the season 4 opener at all. It was all setup (which isn’t necessary bad) but the one year jump and the results of it is lame.
- The fairy world bit was just stupid, all of it.
- Tara is a fighter lesbian now?
- Sam’s brother living with Hoyt’s mother? WTF?
- Jason is actually a cop and a responsible person?
- Necromancer witches?
Indeed, the only good thing about this episode was Hoyt and Jessica part. They should get a spin-off.
I’ve read the first 10 books after the third season ended, and by this point the TV series have nothing in common with the books except for character names.
Alexander DubrovskyQuote Reply
I think there needs to be a post about the Amazon mishap to warn people to be wary of spoilers on the internet.
Perhaps also to clarify this board’s policy on DwD spoilers for the next 2 weeks?
ScottsdaleSamQuote Reply
Where did you hear it?
Alexander DubrovskyQuote Reply
This site is usually really good about spoiler control. That being said, I am going to try and force myself to only read post headings about casting until I have the book in my hands.
Ryan McCoyQuote Reply
Alexander Dubrovsky,
on one of the EW GOT episode comment boards, been wondering if it was just a rumor or if it was for sure.
CorbQuote Reply
I think ELIJAH WOOD should play Stannis next season…..
I am bored.
Julian WalkerQuote Reply
Julian Walker,
Julian-
too funny! LOL
HandmaidenofDanyQuote Reply
aDwD released early….
…no more aSoIaF forum viewing for 2 months.
Damryn of DorneQuote Reply
Corb,
If that turns out true, there goes the S=J theory, Paul is tall (excuse pun), whereas Miltos is short. I don’t think faceless men can change their appearance that much, especially by a foot or more.
tysnowQuote Reply
I’m with the folks that are really nervous about the early DwD release…I feel like I’m walking on eggshells all across the internetz.
Great news on teh ratings, no reason why the show wouldn’t get better and better ratings. The only problem I forsee inthe 2nd season is the death of Renly and the “death” of Ban and Rickon. Based on the Ned reaction we might get some folks who are tired of seeing their favorite characters die. Maybe not but worth mentioning I think.
on a completely unrelated note I just started reading the Thomas Covenent series and found out there’s a character named Beric Halfhand. Seriously.
KingthlayerQuote Reply
Damn, never even crossed my mind before now, but you are right, she is the best thing about TB atm, she delivers in spades.
Deborah Woll for Melisandre now, HBO! you can work her into schedule.
I mean is she smokin or not, especially when she looks serious like in some pics I’ve seen, then she could use her playful side when seducing Stan and Jon (hopefully).
*Bonus, she is just over 5’10″, perfect for the Red Priestess
P.S. – If they can’t get Gong Li, of course.
tysnowQuote Reply
Yeah, I’m thinking the same thing. Seems a little drastic, but considering how many years we’ve been waiting for this book it would suck to be spoiled a week before getting to read it…
Avalanche3319Quote Reply
There’s also a Qhorin Dondarrion.
j/k
MormegilQuote Reply
Mormegil,
That would be incredible. haha
KingthlayerQuote Reply
Avalanche3319,
All it takes is one bad apple. I am abstaining from and ASOIAF discussion anywhere on the internet as of tomorrow. I would be beyond angry if I found out early that Darth Vader is Luke’s father.
Eric BigpictureQuote Reply
No kidding. Light dawns on marble head.
I’d take her as Mel or Ygritte. On these posts I must have suggested at least 10 different actresses/celebs to play Mel. It’s fun. But, as soon as they announce the actress, it’s over. So, until then, I’ll keep going: Beyonce.
Mike ChairQuote Reply
tysnow,
Bettany is a major actor. I think he’s probably too expensive to have on for such a minor character, even considering that Jaqen H’Gar turns into a very different looking Faceless Man Pate.
BrettQuote Reply
Clob,
GoT didn’t make Falling Skies dull. It did that all on it’s own. I’m surprised it had any good reviews, I watched the first 2 eps, and it was as bland as it gets. Billed as Walking Dead with aliens, everything about it fell flat. Wish Jericho could come back and replace this. I might watch a few more episodes, but it’s not very likely. Biggest disappointment of the year so far for me. Ugh, don’t want to derail the thread, but I hated the whole “I’m a history professor, so I’m going to spout some random history now” trope. I do like the harnesses and want to know more about them.
salukQuote Reply
There is a vitaly important success indicator that I think we’re all overlooking.
I was able to get my wife to not only watch, but enjoy, Game of Thrones!
Laugh all you like, but I’ve spent over a decade trying to get her into fantasy and this has been my only success.
I was doubting her at first, as she didn’t seem too enthralled, but then she actually referenced a Lannister in a real life scenerio! My jaw literally dropped and in response to my shock she replies:
Of course I know the Lannister’s. They always pay their debts!
All is finally right with the world!
Riven LightQuote Reply
Riven Light,
yes, same with my sister. She’s an English teacher but she NEVER read the Lord of the Rings (I’d refuse to be teached by that someone) and read 10 pages of aGoT before she put it away as some stupid story with boring knights her brothers liked. Last week she watched all 10 episodes, time to start reading sister…
KnurkQuote Reply
Mike Chair,
I would take Beyonce over all contenders, combined at that. She would just own Mel, period. Stannis’s guards wouldn’t just tremble when she walked by, they would melt into puddles of primordial soup and poor Jon (or lucky Kit), would be the happiness player on GoT, along with Stannis.
See, you went and had me revise my Mel list.
1.) Beyonce
2.) Gong Li
3.) Deborah Woll
tysnowQuote Reply
saluk,
Well said sir!
Joe BlancheQuote Reply
Billed as Walking Dead with aliens, everything about it fell flat. Wish Jericho could come back and replace this. I might watch a few more episodes
I agree completely! Nutz!
Joe BlancheQuote Reply
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/06/28/true-blood-ratings/
True Blood season premiere got 5.4 million viewers Sunday, and even more counting the second airing.
We can only hope to do so well one day.
duckyQuote Reply
If we get Beyonce for Mel, I want Jay-Z for Stannis.
Sloth Vs. YetiQuote Reply
Be careful out there, fans:
http://www.salon.com/entertainment/tv/game_of_thrones/index.html?story=/books/2011/06/28/dance_with_dragons_george_martin_spoilers
HollyoakQuote Reply
ducky,
GoT can get those numbers next season, cast Deborah Woll as Mel and Alexander as Stannis and its a gimme.
Cast Beyonce as Mel and ratings will go into orbit.
(The reason why Jeremy Irons didn’t get big numbers for Borgias, is because he isn’t an IT actor for the 18-35 year old crowd.)
Sorry Sloth, no Jay-Z, he aint the middle brother, though brother he may be. Whereas Mel is foreign, exotic, gorgeous, mysterious, intelligent, commanding and just smokin, period.
tysnowQuote Reply
Hmm I don’t see the Bran and Rickon death being a big deal. Only because I don’t see them ending the episode with people thinking the boys died. I see the boys being “killed” in the beginning and by the end we have a short scene of Bran, Rickon, Osha and Hodor in the crypts.. That’s just how I see it.
JoshQuote Reply
Riven Light,
one of the higher-ups at work randomly came up to my desk and saw I was reading AFFC and he said he’d watched the whole first season and his wive is now reading all the books….i’s viral my friend (I can only hope)
KingthlayerQuote Reply
I would love to see Game of Thrones eventually acheive the same numbers as True Blood. I expect we’ll see numbers around 3.5-4.5 million for next season. True Blood is acheiving great numbers despite falling off the rails a bit last season and the season opener was definitely a bit of a stinker. But as many of us know Thrones will just continue to get better and better as seasons progress as long as D & D keep sticking as faithfully to the source material. Season 4 will be likely kick off near the end of Storm of Swords or beginning of FFC/DwD. I expect there will be a lot more people hooked on this show by then and a 5.4 rating may not be out of the question.
Okay I think I may stop lurking this site and many other places on the net now. Damn those Germans and their accidental early release of Dragons. I really don’t want to stumble onto a spoiler! Hopefully the publisher decides to just push up the release of the book now in fairness to everyone else that still has to wait for their copy….(wishful thinking?)
Onos ToolanQuote Reply
Ya’ll need to go over to the Tubey Awards and vote, lots of GoT representation. We need to overcome the Vampire Diaries tweenies, otherwise this might end up being aka Twilight at MTV.
tysnowQuote Reply
Sorry Tyrion and Bronn, but Troy and Abed in the moooorning! A lot of fun categories :) Don’t miss Mireille Enos as “Best performance by an inanimate object” in the Killing.
salukQuote Reply
Wishful, but not a solitary thought, Ser.
Still scratching my head about that one….Germans…really?…..not living up to the stereotype I expect….then again….if it wasn’t an accident….
Jaycel AdkinsQuote Reply
OT- but the whole spoiler mine field on ADWD thing sucks for you dudes that run this site. I’m sure you all will be filtering out the trolls left and right soon. I’m really surprised that most of the people at the places around the net that I fequent have been pretty cool about it so far. I hear IMDB is the biggest mine field at the moment so if you don’t want to be spoiled stay clear of that site.
dizzy_34Quote Reply
Josh,
Perhaps but I think that would take away from the story to be honest. When reading the book I was genuinely awestruck that I thought they were gone and it’s not for a short time either (I might liken it to 3 episodes of a tv series where I had no idea that they would turn up). Per haps they will amend the length of discord for the show but the way the story works I think it would be a disservice to not let the viewer think that they are gone for a few episodes anyway. My worry is that by that point too many characters would be gone and folks wouldn’t have the patience to wait for the turn. That’s what happened when my girlfriend read the book…I had some convincing to do before she would pick the book up again. And no, I didn’t tell her they were ok.
KingthlayerQuote Reply
dizzy_34,
Hopefully the same spirit that didn’t let Larry/Otaku Assemble get spoiled will now filter down to us as well. We are kinda in the same boat as he was….give or take a few million or more possible spoiler possibilities for him than us.
Less concerned with the fandom than someone more extreme than the ‘Is Winter Coming?’ crowd deciding to blast fan sites.
Jaycel AdkinsQuote Reply
Jaycel Adkins,
Well he frequently gets people spoiling stuff in his comments sections so he must stay away from them. I hear the biggest offenders so far to my knowledge is IMDB, Youtube, and Facebook. I think Winter and crew will do a good job of eliminating the spoilers. Ran has implemented a ban policy until the book is out over at Westeros. Tower of the Hand is doing something similar as well. So I feel comfortable treading those sites at the moment.
dizzy_34Quote Reply
True but this is TV and I think killing off two children in such a gruesome way would turn people off and than when they turn up alive three episodes later they’ll feel like they were tricked. Silly I know but I remember reading about another show who planned to kill off a popular supporting character for three episodes(she’d have faked her death magically) but decided against it. It was actually a cool idea because the main character would have been part of it and it would have shown her intelligence, but they decided that it would alienated the fanbase and they said they were happy with their decision because of the fan reaction within the ten minutes of the character’s “fake” death.
JoshQuote Reply
I see where you’re coming from but I hope it isn’t true because I think in general producers need to give more credit to viewers. Viewers are generally a smart, resilient bunch and shouldn’t be placated to. That sort of goes against what I’ve said about thinking viewers will bail when it happens but in the end I hope I’m right about viewers being clever and I hope I’m wrong that folks will tune out.
KingthlayerQuote Reply
Kingthlayer,
Could the management please black out the quote I quoted. My mistake…always preview DAMMIT!!
KingthlayerQuote Reply
Neat, I have a photo. I had no idea how to do that without using my FB or Twitter logins. Thanks, WiC.
Eric BigpictureQuote Reply
I can only assume that with the “don’t go to your favorite GRMM/ASOIF website until July 12th” decree from the publishers that we won’t get any further casting news till after that, possibly Comic-Con?
Ser LemoncakesQuote Reply
I know it’s irrelevant for HBO but is anybody keeping track of ilegal downloads? I’d love to hear that GoT was the most downloaded thing on earth or something like that :)
ZimaQuote Reply
Knurk,
Sorry, late reply. You’re right, scarce info on Rome numbers. But you can find the premiere ratings, and the season 1 finale as well, and season 2 opening numbers are at least alluded as well somewhere.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Zima,
well I just had a look at thepiratebay.org and episode six of GoT was second on the list of regular resolution TV Shows with the most seeders. Behind an episode of House.
As for High Res TV Show downloads episode 6 of GoT is on top above True Blood season 4 episode 1 and GoT episodes make up 6 of the top ten most seeded High Res files.
Now I’m from Australia and I’ve had to download the episodes every week. We are a country of notorious pirates haha. A few hours after it was released episode 10 had over 25,000 leechers. This would have been about midnight on the east coast of USA.
With seeding and leeching the numbers fluctuate incredibly but the sheer volume of people downloading the show was and is immense.
DavosFTW!Quote Reply
I live in Switzerland and they sent me an email saying it’s arriving next Monday? Eeek! Hope it is so.
clemintineQuote Reply
I had stopped visiting Westeros.org’s forum in the last couple of weeks to avoid accidental spoilers from the ADwD book review. In light of this German Amazon screw-up, I am going to stay away from all ASoIaF websites including this one at the end of today until I finish reading ADwD (around July 13 or July 14).
Don’t know how I will fare in the meantime. I guess it would be like quit smoking cold turkey though I am not a smoker. I visit this site first thing in the morning when I wake up and last thing at night before I go to sleep. It has been a daily event for me in the last few years.
Winter, thanks for setting up this wonderful site and consistently maintain free exchange of idea and opinions with civilized discourse. Thanks for all the House Gatewatch members for their time and heartfelt opinions. Without that passion, this would not the preeminent site for all things related to GoT and ASoIaF, obsessed by many readers and viewers alike, imho.
Adidos, till Jul 15. Always support the bottom!!!
SugarVampireQuote Reply
clemintine,
Ah, another lucky fellow! Happy for you clemintine ;)
I pre-ordered from amazon.com a few days ago, if only I’d chosen amazon.de instead… Argh, I’m so tempted to be spoilered. Please, help I can’t control myself!!
Rinoa De la PicaQuote Reply
My favorite character from TC:WGW was Hyle Troy. And, of course, the giants. That author can be nearly as evil to favorite characters as GRRM.
Shock MeQuote Reply
That was the very first spoiler I ever experienced. The afternoon I was getting in line for the first regular showing of the Empire Strikes Back a girl in my class who snagged a seat at a midnight champagne premeire hosted by her father’s radio station blurted it out to everyone.
In contrast to the first episode (Star Wars) which was still in theaters a year after its release before I saw it, I still waited several hours to be the first in line with my friends. I kept the foul knowledge myself too even though they asked me why I was in such a bad mood. Ever since, I’ve always gone on opening night or ordered pre-release to forestall spoilers.
Shock MeQuote Reply
Daily Show GOT reference last night! Now I’m happy.
Ser LemoncakesQuote Reply
For those of you waiting for information on how the story goes on:
there is one of the Amazon.de books on Ebay already.
http://cgi.ebay.de/A-Dance-with-Dragons-early-release-/320720770162?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item4aac729472
baron cznaryQuote Reply
Mormegil,
Can’t wait for that scene.
Girt the GreatQuote Reply
What can I say – DANCE has arrived…
NO SPOILERS HERE!
I was really taken aback yesterday when I checked my mail to find a ‘your order has been sent’-message from amazon.de – I didn’t order anything, or did I? No, wait: there is ONE open order, but this can’t possibly be shipping today?
But there it was: A Dance with Drag… complete with tracking number and all. Did they complete the book so fast that they pushed the release date to two weeks earlier? SoI went to check the amazon.de website: this item will be shipped on the 12th of July. Well, you know the rest of it already, I guess.
So here I sit, still rereading aCoK, wit aDwD on the shelf. Since I didn’t even want to spoil myself, I just turned some pages: there are letters, and it seems they form words. There’s more maps then in any of the other books. And while the dustjacket looks great on itself, it won’t fit (again) to the older ones.
But I guess you will find out for yourselves soon enough – what’s two weeks to a GRRM fan? In the end, I guess we will all be equally proud & thrilled to hold, read and love this one. It is known.
Sorry, can’t hold myself (non STORY-related SPOILER to come):
Some of us may have reason to be a little prouder than the rest. And they deserve it. Cheers, fellows!
DunkeltrollQuote Reply
Dunkeltroll,
Happy I can understand. Proud? Why? It wasn’t through some feat of strength or wit that you ended up with an early copy. Just a clerical error. But whatever. Way to go.
Some of us have more reason to be bitter than others. :)
Eric BigpictureQuote Reply
Eric Bigpicture,
proud like in a ‘you don’t know what you’re missing’ kind of way towards people that didn’t yet discover the books, or being pround to be part of the fandom. That had nothing to do with getting a copy early – quite the opposite.
And Eric: The spoiler part has nothing to do with the early shipped books, too.
DunkeltrollQuote Reply
Dunkeltroll,
DUDE, I didn’t read your post but are you reviewing the book? People have been waiting for 10 years on this book and a lot of people don’t want to know anything about it, they want to go blank into the book!!! If your post was about something else then I’m sorry for this quick rant.
I’ll be avoiding the comments here for upcoming weeks, even hoping there won’t be any castingannouncements…
Edit: I may sound like a crazy person, but I can even go nuts if I read a comment like: I thought the book was ‘meh’ or ‘fucking great’ or ‘like AFFC.’ Really, just don’t post about the book AT ALL!
KnurkQuote Reply
Just now saw that Camelot was cancelled yesterday. I can’t say that I’m surprised from the parts that I did manage to watch. It just makes me a bit more happy that GoT is being done well and proper. …. And maybe now people will think it over a bit more before attempting yet another Arthurian tale.
ClobQuote Reply
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