Game of Thrones Finale Ratings: Did People Actually Quit Watching?

There's a great metaphor that Game of Thronesexecutive producer D.B. Weisss\ used in an interview with Entertainment Weekly a few days ago. When asked about viewers reacting to Ned Stark's death by declaring they would never watch the show again, Weiss simply said, "It’s like when you throw the book across the room and then you run back and pick it up again."

At the time, no one was sure whether the viewers of the HBO drama would run and pick the show back up again. There was a widespread response of "I'm never watching the show again," from disgruntled fans who hadn't read the book and were shocked by the sudden offing of the show's de facto lead character in the episode "Baelor." As it turns out, though, fans did run and pick it back up again... and they told a few of their friends to do the same.

With its season finale, the show hit record high viewership. The initial showing of the episode attracted a stunning 3 million viewers -- 3.9 million if you add in the viewership from the repeat that aired later that night. Compare that 3 million to the 2.2 million viewers that the premiere, "Winter Is Coming," attracted, or even the 2.66 million that "Baelor" garnered.

Game of Thrones is spreading probably by word-of-mouth, and that's certainly showing. I wouldn't be surprised to see higher ratings for next year's season two premiere as this trend continues over the summer. It also shows that the fanbase -- both readers of the book and A Song of Ice and Fire virgins -- are planning to hang in there with the series through thick and thin, even through shocking events like the ending moments of "Baelor."

I think we'll be seeing many more seasons of Game of Thrones, and I couldn't be more excited.

Game of Thrones returns to HBO for a second season in spring 2012. A Dance with Dragons, the fifth book in the series on which the show is based, hits shelves on July 12.