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RECORDS WERE BROKEN over the weekend as over 16 million people in the US alone tuned in for the season finale of Game of Thrones.
A total of 16.5 million people watched the last episode of the penultimate series of the HBO fantasy series, according to Variety.
The record-breaking number, while just representative of US watching figures, is expected to be mirrored across the world, according to the entertainment website.
The figures, compiled by the Nielsen group, found that 12.1 million watched it as it went out at its scheduled time – this makes it the most watched episode in the show’s history. The rest of the 16.5 million figure was made up by the online streams of the finale.
Episodes of the current season are averaging around 30.6 million viewers which Variety says is up nearly 8 million viewers from the same point in last year. These figures are the total viewing figures and not just how many watched as it went out at its scheduled time.
Earlier this month, a group of hackers posted a fresh cache of stolen HBO files online and demanded a multimillion-dollar ransom from the network to prevent the release of entire television series and other sensitive proprietary files.
HBO, which had previously acknowledged the theft of “proprietary information”, said it’s continuing to investigate and is working with police and cybersecurity experts.
In a five-minute video from ‘Mr Smith’ to HBO CEO Richard Plepler included in the dump, the hackers used white text scrolling on a black background to deliver an ultimatum. In short: Pay up within three days or see the group, which claims to have stolen 1.5 terabytes of HBO shows and confidential corporate data, upload entire series and sensitive proprietary files.
With reporting by AP
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Thought it was a bit of an Auntie climax myself
@Mary: this is gold.
@Mary: very good
@Mary: Gold star for you! I laughed.
@Mary: I’ve been showing this comment to people all morning.
Thought it was John who was supposed to bend the knees..
@SteveW: she spreads the legs of you bend the knee.
Brilliant stuff last night’s GoT. Loved seeing Littlefinger getting his just reward. Typifies sleezy divide and conquer politicians everywhere. They should all suffer the same fate.
So, are Jon and Danny related then ?
@Zossima: she is his aunt and he is the rightful heir to the Iron throne.
@Paul Fahey: his sister?
@Zossima: Yeh. Mega ew. It’ll be super awkward when they discover that
@Hoomanbean: yeah it’s a big deal over there in Westeros. I’d be ‘lion’ if I said no one else is doing it.
@Hoomanbean: even worse when they realise she is carrying his child after their latest encounter!!!
@Gareth Fitzpatrick: Rhaegar (Jon’s pappy) was Daenerys’ eldest brother, making her Jon’s aunt
@Hoomanbean: even worse when they realise she is carrying his child after their latest encounter….
@Arn: Daenerys’ own parents were brother and sister, so it’s probably no big deal for her!
@Gareth Fitzpatrick: Aunt. His father is Rhaegar, the brother of Daenerys. Daenerys’ father was Aerys Targarean.
@Paul Fahey: Who was his mother?
@Zossima: worst kept secret in TV history: R + L = J.
@Gillian Weir Scully: Lyanna Stark.
@Gillian Weir Scully: Lyanna Stark, Ned’s sister. She ran off with Rhaegar and married him in secret after he annulled his marriage to Elia Martell.
@kjholt: this is terrible
If there is any justice The Hound just has to kill The Mountain.
@Tra Hughes: That’s Arya’s job
@Grumpyoldtroll: no Arya wants to kill the hound not the mountain!
@Deborah Behan: the mountain is on the list too, he was responsible for tortures at Harenhal.
@Deborah Behan: No, sure she took the hound off her list remember? The Mountain and Cersei are who she’s after now. But Jamie is going to Kill Cersei first.
So much for the Wall.
@Emmet Dillane: Yeh must’ve been built in Celtic tiger days by cowboys judging by how it all fell apart
Ray Donovan now that’s a tv show.
@paul kelly: nah. It’s just the same old crap. First series was good. Then it just regurgitated up on itself.
@Nial D: 1st Season = gold. 2nd = muck. 3rd = slightly above average. 4th = poor.
They tried to hard to follow the format of The Sopranos without extending the cast. All we have is a flawed family who if they communicated with each other be a lot better off.
@Nial D: So you still watch it then
@paul kelly: Agreed!
@paul kelly: new season is great.
@Nial D: You watch crap, why?
That scene where the Hound is taking a moment to figure out how to get the wight out of the box safely was one of my favourites.
Jon Snow had aunts in his pants
The series had some epic moments but I found some of the writing a little poor. The reasoning for Jon and his band of merry men to go north of the wall seemed illogical. They took a massive risk for very little gain. Why could none of those smart characters see that? Since they moved beyond the books, the writers seem to be a bit lost. It doesn’t make any sense that Jon would be called Aegon Targaryen when Rhaegar already had a child called Aegon. Was he short of names for his kids? They seem to be merging Jon and Aegon into 1 character as the real Aegon is very much alive in the books and wants to claim the throne for himself.
Twas a bit cold this morning. Winter is coming…
Rugrats is a better show
@Alt Left: More on your comprehension age level!
@Alt Left: the characters are low-lifes.
@Liam flag: calm down Jesus Christ ! Im just proving rugrats is better than a show that has about 4 seasons to much
@Alt Left: Just because you say it, it doesn’t prove it.
@Matt Connolly: Correct, but If it said, FACT at the end, that would be proof enough for most.
Twin Peaks was delayed by a day for this. Not impressed.
@Dave O Keeffe: I wish someone could explain what’s happening in Twin Peaks to me! Im still watching it but haven’t a clue what’s going on!!!
@Deborah Behan: even the director doesn’t know
What happened to the The Mountains face, he looks all broke up,
@aleeto45: He is a re-animated corpse.
@Mick Jordan: I was just WAITING for the reaction of the Maester when the Hound emptied that box. Bet he was fecking LOVING it!
@Tricia Golden: He was very interested. When he picked up the arm and the hand was still alive you could see his mind whirling.
What would the Nightking have done without that Dragon??
@Gillian Weir Scully: Lyanna Stark
Never watched it.
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