David Farnor | On 06, Jun 2019

After an epic 10 years, 73 episodes, and almost 71 hours of viewing time, HBO production Game of Thrones finally drew to its much anticipated close last month, and it did so in record-breaking style.

Sky Atlantic’s cumulative viewing figures for the finale ‘The Iron Throne’ was 5.789m, making it the biggest series finale of any Sky programme ever. This is up 12 per cent on the Season 7 finale, which ended on 5.17m.

Episode 2, which aired on Easter Monday, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, drew in the highest audience for the series, at 6.31m. This figure is made up of those who watched the 2am simulcast, the 9pm transmission and any repeats, those who recorded the episode and watched it back and also those who chose to catch up on demand on Sky Atlantic and NOW. If you include those who watched the episode on their mobile phones and tablets through the Sky Go app, as well as those who watched after the first 7 days it was on air, the total audience increases to more than 7.1m.

The biggest live 2am viewing figure was for the season’s opener, ‘Winterfell’, where 192,000 super-fans stayed up to watch the episode live (up from 121,000 for Season 7’s first episode).

Each episode drew in an average cumulative audience of 6.081m which is the biggest ever series performance of any Sky programme. This is up 28 per cent from the previous record of Season 7, which sat at 4.76m. The average viewer of the fantasy series in the UK averaged at age 41, with a 51 per cent male and 49 per cent female split.

Over on Sky Atlantic’s social channels, Season 8 also broke records with a whopping 80m total impressions (up 60 per cent on Season 7), 8m total engagements (up 100 per cent) and an average engagement rate of 10 per cent (up 25 per cent). The total video views across social also reached 20 million.

Zai Bennett, Sky Director of Programmes, says: “Game of Thrones has been a huge success for Sky Atlantic. Showcasing British talent both on and off-screen, the series has kept viewers gripped with the myriad twists and turns of the battle for the Seven Kingdoms. We want to say a massive thank you to all the fans who have supported the show throughout this incredible journey. Valar Dohaeris.”

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