Return of Game of Thrones Smashes Ratings Record

The season premiere of Game of Thrones has smashed an HBO ratings record set by the previous episode of Game of Thrones. The show's return had 17.4 million viewers, compared to 16.9 million for the last episode of Season 7 almost two years ago, reports Deadline, which predicts that the show will continue to hit new heights as the last season progresses. Entertainment Weekly calls the fantasy epic "very likely the biggest show in the world at this point," noting that after months of streaming viewership were added to the figures, the show averaged 32 million viewers per episode last season. GoT—which already has a prequel in development—also dominated Twitter, where all the trending topics Sunday night were related to the show, the New York Times reports. (More Game of Thrones stories.)