A couple of days ago we witnessed the long-awaited premiere in HBO from the first episode of the series The Last of Us. A production that adapts the cult video game with the help of the creative team behind Chernobyl.
For these reasons, the expectation was extraordinarily high and, at least in its first episode, we can affirm that it is a triumph that exceeds any preconceived requirement before seeing the brutal episode.
As we reported in our review, the first episode of The Last of Us executes some clever moves to adapt its story and give it more of a flow with an emphasis on drama and pacing. Thus achieving one of the best video game adaptations in history, so far.
Given such a quality of product and such a level of noise on social networks, curiosity also arose as to whether or not it could surpass the biggest premiere in the entire history of HBO: House of the Dragon.
Today we finally have the official figures provided by the company itself and we can gauge the immense popularity of both franchises, with their respective differences.
House of the Dragon retains the record as the best HBO premiere AND The Last of Us remains in second place
In August 2022, HBO made what would be its most important launch of the year: House of the Dragon. A series with a great challenge after the fiasco that resulted in the final season of Game of Thrones. But that he managed to get ahead victoriously setting a new record for the company.
This series inspired by the universe of George RR Martin managed to record a total of 9.98 million combined viewers, both through traditional media such as its cable TV channel and the HBO Max streaming platform. The most shocking thing is that this figure condenses only the audience impact in the United States on Sunday night.
now through an official press release, the people of Warner has revealed audience figures for the premiere of The Last of Us, based on Nielsen records, setting the record as the second-biggest opening in HBO history. But there is a detail in the figures.
Combining the streaming and subscriber figures for the private TV channel, the first episode of The Last of Us would have gathered a total of 4.7 million viewers combined. Pretty much half of what House of the Dragon accomplished.
Even so, this figure was enough to position the production as the second largest premiere in the history of this new era of HBO, where they count audiences through digital and traditional media.
Before this new counting dynamic, the audience record belonged to Boardwalk Empire by Martin Scorsese. that he had achieved 4.81 million viewers in 2010when only the cable TV channel existed.
HBO distinguishes itself by releasing series that gain more audiences as the episodes progress, as happened with Game of Thrones or even with Euphoria. So the expectation is positive.
