It’s hot and humid across much of the U.S., but the infamous and much-anticipated winter is here.

Time Warner Inc.-owned US:TWX HBO’s premier fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” will air the debut of its penultimate seventh season at 9 p.m. Eastern on Sunday.

Don’t miss:‘Game of Thrones’ season 7 preview: The race for the Iron Throne is on

The show, based on the book series “A Song of Ice and Fire” by author George R.R. Martin, is the premium cable network’s most-watched show ever. That is quite a feat on a network that attracts some of Hollywood’s best talent and was home to popular shows like “The Sopranos” and “The Wire.”

“Game of Thrones” has won 38 Primetime Emmy Awards and has been nominated for 106 total over the course of its six seasons. The series has come a long way from the 2.8 million viewers it garnered for its first episode in 2011. The finale of its most recent sixth season was the series’ most-watched, attracting 8.9 million viewers.

There is no doubt that “Game of Thrones” is HBO’s most-popular and sought-after series.

But TV viewers have continued to break away from traditional cable and opt for generally cheaper, more refined TV offerings. And as they do, more content distributors have rushed to bring new digital on-demand and live TV streaming platforms to the market. While cord-cutters might be looking to part ways with bloated, costly cable subscriptions, they want the option to watch whatever they want whenever and however they want.

For that reason, HBO has been in high demand.

Aside from being a cable subscriber with access to HBO via one of the major providers, such as AT&T Inc.’s T, -0.48% DirecTV and U-verse, Charter Communications Inc.’s CHTR, +0.79% Spectrum (formerly Time Warner Cable), Comcast Corp.’s CMCSA, -0.70% Xfinity, Verizon Communications Inc. VZ, -0.39% , Dish Network Corp. DISH, -3.05% , Altice USA’s ATUS, -1.42% Optimum, and a laundry list of other providers.

Subscribing to HBO via a cable subscription also gives customers access to the network’s cable-linked streaming service HBO Go.

Read:HBO is planning 4 ‘Game of Thrones’ spinoffs as series approaches final seasons

Also read:Why ‘Game of Thrones’ characters prefer social status over wealth

A couple of years ago, HBO launched its stand alone over-the-top HBO Now streaming platform, which subscribers can access without a cable subscription.

HBO Now, which runs $15 per month, is available across multiple screens on streaming devices, such as Amazon.com Inc.’s AMZN, -1.78% FireTV stick and Fire tablet, Roku, Alphabet Inc.-owned GOOGL, -2.41% Google’s Chromecast, Apple Inc.’s AAPL, -3.17% Apple TV and mobile devices, Android devices and Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.24% and Sony Corp. SNE, +1.73% gaming consoles.

Hulu — jointly owned by Walt Disney Co. DIS, -1.22% , 21st Century Fox Inc. FOXA, -2.34% , Comcast and Time Warner — recently added HBO to their offerings, just in time for the “Game of Thrones” season seven premiere.

Hulu subscribers, like at many other streaming services offering HBO, can pay $15 per month to add HBO to their Hulu on-demand or live TV service.

The addition gives Hulu a boost in the streaming content wars. As mentioned, networks and streaming platforms like Hulu, Netflix Inc. NFLX, -0.05% and Amazon are looking for any edge they can as competition for eye balls increases. And HBO, specifically “Game of Thrones” is a big edge.

Check out:Hulu subscribers can now get HBO, just in time for ‘Game of Thrones’ season 7

Also see:More people subscribe to a streaming service than they do cable TV

Subscribers to Amazon’s Prime Instant Video and digital multichannel video programming distributors, such as Dish’s Sling TV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Sony’s PlayStation Vue.

There are more ways to watch TV now than ever before, and that’s been driven by consumer demand and changing habits. The proliferation of streaming options has also had the effect of cutting down on streaming — that and companies have taken greater steps to crack down — according to piracy news site Torrent Freak. “Game of Thrones” did hold on the crown as TV’s most-pirated show for the fifth year in a row last year.

Last year’s season finale of “Game of Thrones” was the series’ most-watched, and the entire sixth season drew an average of 23.3 million weekly viewers across original telecasts and streaming. As “Game of Thrones” nears its climax, HBO will undoubtedly need to find another hit diamond in the rough.

The network renewed critically acclaimed “Westworld” for a second season and will likely cross its fingers that the series can show substantial growth on its first season’s success. “Westworld” was HBO’s most-watched first season, averaging 12 million viewers across all platforms. The season one finale drew an audience of 3.6 million.