'Game of Thrones' finale breaks ratings record

HBO’s Game of Thrones reached a new all-time high in the ratings Sunday night.

The second season finale was seen by 4.2 million viewers — the first time the show has cracked four million viewers for a first-run airing — and delivered 5.1 million for the night including repeats. The news is particularly welcome after the previous week’s penultimate “Battle of the Blackwater” episode actually dipped in the overnight Nielsens. These finale numbers confirm our assumption the Blackwater decline was merely due to the Memorial Day weekend holiday.

Thrones was remarkably stable this season, hovering around 3.7 million viewers for premiere episodes and averaging more than 10.4 million viewers across all repeats and viewing platforms. The fantasy epic is renewed for a third season, and EW.com reported last night that showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have signed on for two more seasons.

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