Without Game of Thrones, HBO lost half of its linear adult audience

In 2020, more and more people left linear TV for streaming. It was already going that way, but last year really put the pedal to the metal.

Variety has a new story outlining the winners and losers of TV in 2020, and it’s about what you’d expect. With the election and the pandemic, cable news channels like Fox and CNN had banner years, a whole lotta people watched the Michael Jordan docuseries The Last Dance, and people continued to leave linear TV for streaming.

That hit premium networks like Starz, Showtime and HBO particularly hard, with HBO losing more than half of its adults 18-49 linear audience in 2020. Before, that number was propped up by Game of Thrones, which became a watercooler show in an age where watercooler shows were thought to be a thing of the past, averaging around 12 million viewers per episode for its eighth and final season.

All that said, I feel like some outlets are framing this story to make it sound HBO has lost most of its audience when that’s not the truth. As Variety points out, people are still watching the shows these networks put out, but they’re largely doing it on streaming rather than linearly as the episodes drop on live television. And frankly, that’s the direction things have been moving in for a while; it’s just that 2020 accelerated things, as it did for so many trends. (The exception, weirdly, is TLC, which is getting great linear views for shows like 90 Day Fiancé and its spinoffs; who woulda thought?)

HBO subscriber numbers are doing pretty well, while subscriptions to HBO Max continue to climb. WarnerMedia knows that’s where the future is and they’re pouring a lot of money and time into it.

So yes, far fewer people are watching linear TV now than used to. All eyes now are on the streaming wars. And who knows? Maybe the Game of Thrones prequel show House of the Dragon can become appointment viewing when it comes out in 2022.

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