“The Winds of Winter” is the most-watched episode in Game of Thrones history

Game of Thrones Season 6 was the most-watched year in the show’s history. Now, Zap2It reports that the season finale, “The Winds of Winter,” was the most watched episode in the show’s history. It was watched live by a record 8.89 million viewers, and scored a 4.4 rating among adults 18-49. This blows past the previous record set by “Mother’s Mercy,” the Season 5 finale, which was watched live by 8.11 million people. Game of Thrones is at the top of the heap.

All throughout Season 6, the show came close but never quite managed to get over the 8 million viewer mark, something that both the Season 5 premiere and finale managed to do. “The Winds of Winter,” however, came very close to netting 9 million viewers, so maybe the show has a new goal to aim for.

Even though Season 6 didn’t match the ratings highs of Season 5 right out of the gate, the ratings were more consistent throughout. Viewers for an average episode of Season 5 hovered in the 6-7 million range, while around 7-8 million viewers watched any given episode of Season 6.

After six years on the air, the audience for Game of Thrones continues to grow. Will the trend continue into the final two years of the show? We’ll know soon enough. Until then, congratulations to the cast and crew of Game of Thrones for achieving a personal best.