Bang! We start with the graphics right away (click to enlarge, first hour only, shows with >10 episode runs condensed to fit, yada yada). Are you suffering from the post-season blues already? This Sunday will be about numbers instead of about a new episode – and I would prefer it to be the other way around as well.

This season, the show quietly passed one of the million marks already before it started airing again, between seasons; it premiered to an audience of (much) more than 6 million for the first time (6.64 million to be exact). The next watershed was passed midway through the season, when 7 million were broken by episode 405 (7.16 million). The absolute record was reached by episode 407 – 7.20 million people tuned in during the first airing. After that, the numbers stayed in the same range, with the finale seen by 7.09 million viewers. Some percentages:

Increase between seasons 21%

Increase during current season 8%

S4 record vs S3 record increase 31%

Other, perhaps even more important records have also been set. This year, Game of Thrones became the biggest show in HBO history in terms of total viewership. The number has increased since, and the latest count stands at 18.6 million viewers across all platforms. The final episode of the season, likewise, set a new piracy record and is on the way to becoming the most shared episode of any TV show this year.

Hear Me Roar: As always, we turn to next season speculations at the end. Where do you think the numbers can take us from here? I believe there is still potential for new viewers to join between seasons, so the 7.20 million can definitely be beaten (early?) next year.