PhotoThe “Game of Thrones” season finale Sunday night smashed a series record for ratings, attracting 12.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen. HBO said on Monday that when views on HBO Go and its stand-alone HBO Now app were included, the 79-minute episode had 16.5 million viewers. Though “Game of Thrones” has been HBO’s most popular show ever for some time, its audience is getting only bigger. Sunday’s total viewership was up 36 percent over last year’s finale, which had 8.9 million viewers, and it was 19 percent better than the sixth-season premiere in July, which had 10.1 million viewers. The next and final season of “Game of Thrones,” which is to have six episodes, won’t have its premiere for some time — possibly in 2019.

Source: New York Times August 28, 2017 19:41 UTC