(UPDATE:
James Hibberd at EW seems to have been thinking along the same lines, and has learned from a network representative that they’ve never had a piece of online promotional content generate so many hits (now standing at some 3.5 million) in so short a time. Amazing.)
The eager fans of HBO’s hit series who flocked to the “Shadows” teaser is quite amazing. A day and a half since it premiered, and Youtube presently reports that it’s been viewed no less than 2,296,806 times. That’s… well, a lot! The intensity of anticipation among fans of the series is growing as we’re about two hit just two months away from the premiere on April 1st (April 2nd in the UK and Central Europe).
In fact, the numbers suggest that the show has been steadily climbing all around, not just in the perception of the fandom on the internet.
Consider that the show is now the third most-viewed in HBO’s history, having edged past Boardwalk Empire in the last months with 9.3 million viewers versus 8.9 million viewers. Both shows are well behind True Blood with its 12.6 million viewers, which in turn is behind the all-time viewership leader The Sopranos, but these are healthy numbers any way you look at it.
Game of Thrones seems to be building momentum, in part thanks to the international success of A Game of Thrones and A Dance with Dragons. It’ll be very interesting to see what the premiere numbers for the first episode will be—I’ve a feeling it’ll top not just the first season premiere, but the first season finale as well, which pulled in 3 million viewers (3.9 million after the repeat). Ratings don’t matter, as such, for HBO, nor does immediate viewership when On Demand and HBO Go exist, but they’re a useful gauge for overall popularity.
We’re just two months out from the show… so, what do fans think the initial viewing premiere numbers going to be? We had 2.22 million at last season’s premiere. I’m thinking something north of 3.4 million as a bare minimum.