How Game of Thrones Audience and Budget Compares With Other Network Blockbusters

You avid binge watchers have made 'Game of Thrones' a very efficient buy for its producers and advertisers. JL

Rani Molla reports in Re/code:

“Thrones” had 25.7 million viewers last season according to HBO, which says 26% of those views come from the company’s online streaming services. The show has the same budget — $10 million per episode last season — as the “The Big Bang Theory,” which had 19 million viewers last year. For context, it costs TV networks about $310 million to produce and get the rights to the Super Bowl, which had 112 million viewers this year.

“Game of Thrones” is a big deal for the media industry, in the sense that the show is bigger than just itself. A bona fide Media Industrial Complex has built up around commenting on and recapping the weekly HBO drama, leading to unknown sums of indirect revenue.

It’s also not so shabby on its own.

“Thrones” had on average 25.7 million viewers last season according to HBO, which says 26 percent of those views come from HBO Go and HBO Now, the company’s online streaming services.

The show has the same budget — $10 million per episode last season — as the “The Big Bang Theory,” which had 19 million viewers on average last year, according to Nielsen data, which measures TV and DVR viewing within seven days of airing (a different measurement than HBO’s).

For more context, it costs TV networks about $310 million to produce and get the rights to the Super Bowl, which had about 112 million viewers this year, according to Nielsen.

Here’s how “Game of Thrones” compares to other visual spectacles in audience and budget:

Rani Molla / Recode

---