How did Thrones do in the UK?

Really rather well! It has been a while since Game of Thrones stopped airing on Sky Atlantic. Our loyal reader Martin (@Wyvernwood) provided us with viewership numbers week by week, and at the end compiled some comparative data obtained from BARB – Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board on top of that. Turning the numbers into graphics, we get the following chart (click to enlarge/embiggen):

The chart shows viewers in million for each of the three shows, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire, and Game of Thrones. BE and GoT both aired on Sky, while True Blood aired on a comparable satellite channel. Note that the available numbers for TB are from the second season, and not the opening one as is the case with the other two shows. Some data are missing: those for the first two and the last two episodes of the BE run, and for TB episode 206. The TB trendline has been condensed to fit the 10 episode run of Thrones.

Hear Me Roar: We can roughly sum up the numbers up as follows – TB season two averaged about half a million viewers weekly, BE one million, while GoT tops the chart with 1.5 million weekly viewers. It aired on a newly established premium channel, which makes its successful run even more impressive. Though it is true that True Blood S2 only aired once per week, we can see GoT matched a whole week of delayed viewing already with its initial airing. The international success of Thrones, also beyond the UK, is encouraging indeed.

So, all ship-shape and Bristol fashion – onwards and upwards!

• Published on 07/11/2011 at 9:56 AM CDT
• Last updated on 10/20/2016 at 6:04 PM CDT