A record 19.3 million viewers tuned in to the penultimate episode of HBO's Emmy-winning series Game of Thrones, topping the series's previous high of 18.4 million set by episode five of season eight. In total the series drew an average of over 44 million spectators each episode, over 10 million more than that of season seven.
13.6 million people caught the show in its 9:00 pm window, scoring for the series the most viewers of a single telecast in HBO's history, barely eclipsing the audience of the season four premier of The Sopranos.
HBO will hope to draw similar numbers in an upcoming Thrones prequel, set 1,000 years before the plot of the popular series. Fans hope the reboot, starring Naomi Watts and Josh Whitehouse, will feature gripping drama amid a hotly-contested power struggle, signature characteristics of one of the most successful television series ever.
