HBO suffers sharp decline in viewership after the ending of Game of Thrones

Fantasy epic aired its final episode in 2019

US TV network HBO saw a drastic decline in viewership last year, in the wake of the conclusion of Game of Thrones back in 2019.

The fantasy epic had been a ratings hit for the channel which once produced The Sopranos and Sex and the City, but nothing in HBO’s current line-up of series has been able to match it for viewership.

According to Variety, more than half of HBO’s adult aged 18-49 audience stopped watching last year and the paid subscription network also suffered an overall drop of 38 per cent in viewership.

The data refers to traditional linear viewing only – watching TV programmes as they broadcast in scheduled timeslots, rather than via catch-up or On Demand.

As well as HBO, other US channels including Starz and Showtime also registered declines in viewership (of 16 per cent and 19 per cent). 

Reports suggested that HBO executives had hoped Westworld, the high-budget sci-fi series launched in 2016, would take over from Thrones as a ratings smash hit, but its ratings, while solid, have never managed to hit the same heights.

Running from 2011 to 2019, Game of Thrones was nothing short of a global TV sensation. 

Adapted from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, Thrones broke records for viewership for HBO, as well as for Sky Atlantic, the channel on which the it aired in the UK.