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16 million people watched Game of Thrones last night, making it the show’s most watched episode

16 million people watched Game of Thrones last night, making it the show’s most watched episode

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Image: HBO

The premiere of Game of Thrones’ seventh season set a series record of 10.1 million viewers tuning in to the live broadcast. Despite being off the air for three months longer than the usual one-year gap between seasons, it seems that the show has lost none of its momentum, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

10.1 million live viewers, with another 6 million on streaming services

According to HBO, “Dragonstone” beat last year’s season 6 finale (which had 8.89 million viewers) for the title of most watched Game of Thrones episode in the series’s history. That number also doesn’t factor in streaming views, which added another 6 million views to Thrones’ total last night.

Looking back, it’s remarkable how the viewership of Game of Thrones has grown over the past seven years. The pilot episode, which aired in April 2011, brought in a comparatively tiny 2.22 million viewers. Wikipedia’s Game of Thrones episode page helpfully charts how that fan base has ballooned from year to year. With only six more episodes left in this condensed season, there’s a good chance HBO will continue to surpass itself in the coming weeks.