Game of Thrones dips slightly in ratings with “High Sparrow,” still dominates

After shedding over a million real-time viewers between its record-breaking premiere and its sophomore episode, ratings dipped a bit more for “High Sparrow,” the third episode of Game of Thrones’ fifth season. When it comes to this show, however, it’s all about perspective, and “High Sparrow” was still watched by more viewers than any other third episode in the show’s history. 6.71 million people tuned in on Sunday, which netted HBO a 3.5 rating among adults 18-49. That made Game of Thrones the most watched cable show of the night, as per usual.

As happened last week, Game of Thrones‘ closest competition came in the form of NBA Playoff coverage over at TNT. Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta came in third. I’ve gotta admit that I had no idea how popular that show was until I started writing these ratings recaps.

Lest anyone be nervous about Game of Thrones ratings woes, such as they are, be comforted that a mild dip around this time is very much in keeping with earlier seasons, which saw a lowpoint around the episodes right after the premiere, when things are still being set up. Traditionally, ratings improve going into the back-half of the season.

In any case, HBO is pretty happy with Season 5’s performance, and even put out a press release updating us as to the success of the premiere episode, The Wars to Come. That episode was watched live by around 8 million people, the best numbers in the show’s history. When you factor in people who watched it within the next seven days though services like HBO Go, HBO Now, HBO On Demand, or with a good old-fashioned DVR, the number swells to 18.1 million.

The press release also mentions that, during Season 4, the show was watched by an average of 19.1 million people per episode. So far, Season 5 is on track to beat that. So yes, the show is very popular.

• Published on 04/28/2015 at 2:00 PM CDT
• Last updated on 04/28/2015 at 2:45 PM CDT