Game of Thrones S7 premiere breaks Sky Atlantic record with 2.8 million viewers

By Patrick McLennan
( What's on TV )
published

game-of-thrones-dragonstone-cersei
(Image credit: HELEN SLOAN / HBO)

A record-breaking UK audience tuned into the season seven premiere of hit fantasy thriller Game of Thrones

The hugely anticipated return of Game of Thrones was watched by a total audience of 2.83 million viewers, according to official figures.

Just over two million people watched the 2am broadcast of the season seven opener, which was simulcast on HBO in the US. That was followed by 788,000 who tuned in for the repeat screening at 9pm.

The 2am figure includes the 118,000 who watched it live, plus those who downloaded or recorded it and watched it later.

Sky believes that 2.83 million viewers will increase by around 60 per cent to around 4.5 million by the end of the week as more people watch it on demand or via their Sky + recordings.

According to Broadcast magazine, the Game of Thrones S6 premiere was watched by 2.2 million in April 2016.

Patrick McLennan
Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 


An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.