HBO’s “Game of Thrones” came roaring back with its Season 4 premiere at 9 p.m. on Sunday, grabbing 6.6 million total viewers — a handy victory over last year’s Season 3 premiere. It’s also the network’s most-watched program since 2007’s series finale of “The Sopranos.”
Granted, the sign-off for “The Sopranos” far outdrew Sunday night’s “Games” opener, with 11.9 million total viewers, but compared to last season’s “GoT” premiere the increase is impressive — the Season 4 premiere was up 52 percent from last season’s opener, and 23 percent from last season’s finale.
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Across multiple airings, the “Game of Thrones” premiere amassed 8.2 million total viewers.
The series premiere of Mike Judge‘s “Silicon Valley” at 10 p.m. averages 2 million total viewers, making for the largest debut for a half-hour on HBO since the 2009 premiere of “Hung.” Two additional airings brought the “Silicon Valley” premiere’s total up to 2.5 million.
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“Veep” kicked off its third season at 10:30 p.m. with an average 955,000 total viewers — marginally off from lat years finale — and added another 539,000 with additional airings.
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AMC’s American Revolution spy drama “Turn,” meanwhile, got off to an encouraging start with its series premiere Sunday night.
The show pulled in 2.1 million total viewers with its 90-minute premiere at 9 p.m. Sunday, with 669,000 of those viewers in the 18-49 demographic most sought by advertisers.
With a second airing factored in, the “Turn” premiere amassed 3 million total viewers, with 1.1 million in the demo.
The ratings are particularly encouraging, given that Sunday was an extremely competitive night that included not only the HBO premieres but the season finales of “Shameless” and “House of Lies” on Showtime, and the Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS and WrestleMania 30 on pay-per-view.