The highly anticipated eighth and final season of Game of Thrones began on 14 April, taking the world by [winter] storm. Now mid-way through the season, fans across the globe are tuning in every Sunday evening, savoring every minute to find out who will be left to rule Westeros on the Iron Throne.
Guinness World Records has partnered with Parrot Analytics, the leading TV content analytics firm specializing in global audience demand measurement, to chart this unprecedented demand to certify that Game of Thrones is the most in-demand TV premiere.
HBO confirmed that 17.4 million people watched the episode on their subscription TV service and on their HBO GO and HBO NOW streaming apps within 24 hours of it airing. The season eight opener also achieved generated 25.46 demand expressions per capita (DEx/c).
"The final season has premiered 2.9% higher globally than its season seven premiere. Premiere day demand has been particularly strong in the United States, United Kingdom and France," said Samuel Stadler, VP of Marketing, Parrot Analytics.
What does demand expressions per mean?
Parrot Analytics has devised a system of "television content demand measurement" that quantifies how viewers are engaging with TV shows. It does so by analysing "Demand Expressions" worldwide – everything from video consumption (streaming/downloads) to social media (hashtags, liking, sharing) and research and commentary (reading or writing about shows, etc.). The more effort – i.e., time – invested by the viewer, the greater the weighting. The interest in a programme is assessed in terms of "Demand Expressions per capita" (DEx/c) – the overall average daily global audience engagement with a show per 100 people within a set time frame.
The opener to Game of Thrones' final season, which covered reunions in Winterfell and war preparations across Westeros as the Night King approached, exceeded the global premiere demand of every other TV series, including the season seven premiere, for any season across all platforms and markets under measurement.*
"It comes as no surprise," added Craig Glenday, Editor in Chief at Guinness World Records. "Game of Thrones has its fans tightly clenched in its dragon-like grip, and excitement for this final series has seen phenomenal engagement across every platform. It has broken records since it first aired – for its viewership figures, Emmy wins, and even its status as the most pirated TV show! It looks like it's going to continue breaking records right up to the final, undoubtedly devastating episode."
Eight other records currently held by the show include:
- Largest TV drama simulcast (number of countries) - 173
- Most Emmy Awards for a drama series - 38
- Most Emmy Awards for a fictional series – 38
- Most Emmy Awards won by a TV series in a season - 12
- Most in-demand TV show based on a book adaptation
- Most pirated television programme
- Most VES Awards won by a TV series - 16
- Most viewers sharing a single torrent file simultaneously - 258,131
As only three episodes remain, fans will wonder who the final ruler will be and which other Guinness World Records titles the show will break.
Find out what other new records will be featured in the upcoming Guinness World Records 2020 book which will be globally available in September 2019.
* Parrot Analytics currently measures demand in over 100 markets worldwide.
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