The Last of Us on track to beat House of the Dragon in viewership
By Dan Selcke
The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones averaged around 44 million viewers per episode, easily the best season run in HBO history. The seventh season averaged around 32.5 million viewers per episode, still perilously high. There were some who thought HBO would never scale those kinds of heights again. Turns out those fears were misplaced.
First came House of the Dragon, HBO’s first Game of Thrones prequel series. The first season of that show aired last year; all told, it averaged 29 million viewers per episode. It didn’t reach the highs of Game of Thrones, but keep in mind that the older show was on for six seasons before posting those kinds of numbers, and here was House of the Dragon nabbing comparable ones right out of the gate.
Now, The Hollywood Reporter has it that HBO’s new genre hit — the zombie drama The Last of Us — has done even better! Its first six episodes have averaged 30.4 million viewers. If that trend continues, The Last of Us will overtake House of the Dragon as HBO’s most successful show since Game of Thrones. And considering that the finale posted the best Sunday night numbers of the season — 8.1 million — odds are that will happen.
House of the Dragon and The Last of Us keep the ratings legacy of Game of Thrones alive at HBO
Most viewers — 88% of them — watched The Last of Us on HBO Max rather than linearly on HBO proper (not counting the week HBO Max streamed an episode a couple days early rather than compete with the Super Bowl). That’s good news for Warner Bros. Discovery, which wants to drive subscribers to its service.
It’s pretty much good news all around. Four years after the end of Game of Thrones and HBO has made two of the most popular genre shows out there today, and both are at the beginnings of their lives. And while it’s not a genre series, is anyone else excited for the final season of Succession, which premieres later this month?
Perry Mason is pretty great, too. I’m not trying to sound like an HBO shill but they’re really bringing it lately.
Next. The Last of Us: 8 biggest changes from the video game in season 1. dark
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