Reminder: Game of Thrones will NOT skip Memorial Day weekend this year
It’s Memorial Day weekend, and many people have likely planned beach trips, family visits, cookouts, and what have you. Game of Thrones fans are no exception, but they have a unique challenge: what if a planned outing conflicts with a new episode of Game of Thrones? Which master do they serve?
That’s a question fans will have to ask themselves this weekend, as “Blood of My Blood,” a new episode of Game of Thrones Season 6, will air this Sunday, May 29, the day before Memorial Day 2016.
During Seasons 3 and 4, HBO chose not to air a new episode during this time of year. That practice stopped during Season 5, and the network aired “The Gift” on May 24, 2015. Coincidentally (or, more likely, not), “The Gift” was easily the lowest-rated episode of the season. Now, because this is Game of Thrones, ratings were still pretty good, but it was still the only time that year live viewership dipped below the 6 million mark, lower than it had been at any point since Season 3. The show’s live ratings also took hits around this time of year during Seasons 1 and 2, before Game of Thrones started taking the weekend off.
Still, that hasn’t been enough to deter HBO from showing a new episode of Season 6 this weekend. After live+7 ratings are factored in, it probably doesn’t make that much of a difference. But if you’re dead-set on watching what happens to Daenerys, Cersei, Bran and company live, you may have to make a sacrifice or two.
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