The long-awaited HBO TV adaptation of The Last of Us has officially become the second-largest debut in the channel’s last decade since the premiere of Boardwalk Empire, raking in a combined 4.7 million US viewers in its first episode across the linear HBO cable channel, and adjacent streaming platform HBO Max.
A report from Variety stated that on top of defeating premiere viewership numbers on shows such as Game of Thrones, which brought in 4.2 million US viewers in 2011, the US Sunday night premiere numbers nearly doubled that of the Season 2 premiere night for Euphoria, another majorly successful title on the platform. HBO noted that, ‘Sunday night viewership for an HBO series typically represents 20%-40% of the show’s total gross audience per episode’, indicating that the show is only on an upward trajectory from here.Â
