The Game of Thrones season 8 premiere was the most in-demand TV episode ever
The Guinness Book of World Records has made an announcement: the Game of Thrones season 8 premiere episode, “Winterfell,” was the most watched in-demand TV premiere of all time. In the 24-hour period following the airing of “Winterfell” on April 14, HBO confirmed that 17.4 million viewers tuned in to watch the continuing adventures of Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and company via their TV subscription service, HBO GO and HBO NOW.
How do the Guinness World of Records people know this? They’ve teamed up with Parrot Analytics, a TV content analytics firm “specializing in global audience demand measurement” to collect and quantify the data. Samuel Stadler, VP of Marketing at Parrot Analytics, states, “[T]he final season has premiered 2.9% higher globally than its season seven premiere. Premiere day demand has been particularly strong in the United States, United Kingdom and France.”
We’re not surprised, since “Winterfell” kicked off the final season of the blockbuster Thrones series run after fans had waited for what seemed like forever between the end of season 7 and the beginning of season 8.
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“It comes as no surprise,” says Craig Glenday, Editor-in-Chief at Guinness World Records. “Game of Thrones has its fans tightly clenched in its dragon-like grip, and excitement for this final series has seen phenomenal engagement across every platform. It has broken records since it first aired for its viewership figures, Emmy wins, and even its status as the most pirated TV show! It looks like it’s going to continue breaking records right up to the final, undoubtedly devastating episode.”
Thrones holds eight other Guinness World Records (and will probably break a few more before it’s done). They include:
- Largest TV drama simulcast (number of countries): 173
- Most Emmy Awards for a drama series: 38
- Most Emmy Awards for a fictional series: 38
- Most Emmy Awards won by a TV series in a season: 12
- Most in-demand TV show based on a book adaptation
- Most pirated television program
- Most VES Awards won by a TV series: 16
- Most viewers sharing a single torrent file simultaneously: 258,131
All these Thrones milestones will be featured in the Guinness World Records 2020 book, to be released in September, 2019.
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