With The Last of Us season 1 finale hitting yet another high in viewership, the show’s audience is officially bigger than a fellow HBO drama, House of the Dragon. Premiered in January, the adaptation of Naughty Dog’s acclaimed post-apocalyptic video game has proven to be the latest prestige series and true appointment television. With nearly every week, The Last of Us has attracted a bigger audience, a trend that has continued into the season 1 finale.
The Last of Us season 1 finale, titled “Look for the Light,” was watched by an average of 8.2 million viewers across all HBO platforms on Sunday night, per The Hollywood Reporter. This is a tick up from episode 8’s 8.1 million viewers, a previous series high. According to HBO, The Last of Us season 1 averaged 30.4 million viewers per episode, beating House of the Dragon‘s average audience of 29 million viewers per episode.
Breaking Down The Last of Us’ Massive Audience
The Last of Us season 1 finale setting another series high in viewership is especially impressive considering it went head-to-head with the Oscars on ABC. Now on numerous occasions, HBO’s post-apocalyptic drama hasn’t been slowed down by award shows, as episode 4 went up against the Grammy Awards on CBS and set a previous series high in viewership with 7.5 million viewers. From its premiere to its finale, The Last of Us season 1 grew its audience at a rate of 75 percent.
Since The Last of Us premiere fell just short of House of the Dragon‘s in terms of viewers, the two series have drawn constant comparisons in terms of their superb quality and massive audience size. Now that it has surpassed House of the Dragon, The Last of Us‘ audience is the biggest of any HBO series since its predecessor, Game of Thrones season 8, which averaged 44 million viewers per episode. With The Last of Us season 2 already renewed by HBO, it will have a chance to top Game of Thrones in its sophomore season.
Source: THR
