The Lannisters and Starks of "Game of Thrones" have whacked "The Sopranos" as HBO's most watched program, the cable network announced Thursday.
The current megahit, starring Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke, and Lena Headey, among others, is averaging 18.4 gross viewers per episode this season, while "The Sopranos" drew 18.2 million in 2002, when the show was at its peak.
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"The Sopranos" was in its fourth season in 2002, while "Game of Thrones" is currently in Season 4.
HBO defines gross viewers as all viewers, whether they watched the live broadcast or viewed later on any HBO platform, such as HBOGo, the network's online streaming format.
Thursday's announcement started a discussion regarding whether those numbers could produce a fair comparison. For example, HBOGo didn't exist 10 years ago, and there were fewer DVRs.
"Sopranos" fans claim that the popularity of George R.R. Martin's novels, which provide the show's source material, gave the show a huge built-in audience from the beginning, while "Thrones" fans counter with the fact that the show has generated numerous viewers outside of the books.
Either way, the 18.4 million viewer average is 4 million more than last year, and the show appears to be gaining momentum as the season's final two episodes loom.
Martin is offering "Game of Thrones" fans a chance to be "killed off" in one of his books, to benefit the Wild Spirit Wolf Sanctuary and the Food Depot in Sante Fe, New Mexico. The first male and female fans to donate $20,000 will have a character named after them, and Martin promises those characters will "certainly meet a grisly death."
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