HBO lost more than half of their adult viewers afterGame of Thrones came to an end. The hit series, which is based on George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, became a cultural phenomenon over the course of its 8 seasons on HBO. The quality in the early seasons was unparalleled, though more than a fewGame of Thronesfans will admit that some of the quality fell off by the time the show got into its later seasons.
Game of Throneshelped propel HBO to new heights as it became one of the most-watched networks in North America. According to a new report, the network saw a lot of people leave afterGame of Thronesseason 8 ended. 12 million people tuned in to see the series finale and then apparently stopped watching HBO. The network reportedly lost 51% of its adult audiences (ages 18-49) after the aforementioned series finale and analysts believe it is all because ofGame of Thrones.
HBO’s past success was largely based onGame of Thrones. Even the critically acclaimedWatchmenseries was not enough to help out the network. With that being said, there are a fewGame of Thrones spin-offs on the way, and many are hoping that the fans will come back to HBO to see these new stories that feature unknown characters. While excitement is high for the spin-offs, fans are still more than a little bitter when it comes to how the original series came to an end.
TheGame of Thrones series finale is one of the most divisive episodes of TV history. It immediately sparked backlash from passionate fans who called on HBO to hire a new set of showrunners and writers to go back and completely redo season 8 as a whole. Millions of people signed petitions to get the network to go back and make things right, though everybody knew that was not a realistic option. Will HBO bounce back to successful viewership numbers in the future with the spin-offs? Only time will tell as HBO Max becomes the sole focus moving forward.Varietywas the first to report on HBO losing over half of its adult viewers afterGame of Thronesended.
