HBO’s ‘Game Of Thrones’ Sets Series Ratings Mark

HBO’s Game Of Thrones continues to slay viewers, with Sunday’s episode averaging a record 4.7 million viewers, according to HBO executives.

The April 14 episode of the series outperformed the prior series record of 4.4 million viewers garnered during the March 31 season three premiere. Sunday’s gross audience across two plays for Game Of Thrones was 5.8 million viewers, according to network officials.

Overall, Disney Channel was the most watched network in primetime during the week of April 8 to April 14, according to Nielsen. The tween-targeted network averaged 2.5 million viewers to best USA Network’s 2.1 million watchers in primetime, with History (1.88 million viewers), A&E (1.85 million) and TBS (1.7 million) rounding out the top five most watched networks.

Disney finished in a dead heat with Nickelodeon on a 24-hour basis, with both networks averaging 1.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen.

Most Watched Cable Shows For Week of April 8 to April 14

Date  ProgramNetwork Total Viewers

4/10                      Duck Dynasty                                                    A&E                      7.8 million

4/8                        WWE Entertainment (9 p.m. to 10 p.m.)              USA                       4.7 million

4/14                      Game Of Thrones                                               HBO                      4.7 million

4/8                        WWE Entertainment (10 p.m. to 11:07 p.m.)       WWE                    4.7 million

4/10                      Duck Dynasty                                                     A&E                      4.5 million

4/8                        WWE Entertainment (8 p.m. to 9 p.m.)                 USA                      4.4 million

4/12                      Masters Golf Tournament (Live)                           ESPN                    4.1 million

4/11                      Swamp People                                                   History                  4.1 million

4/14                      Toy Story 3                                                       Disney                  3.9 million

4/13                      Toy Story                                                          Disney                  3.7 million

Source: Nielsen

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.