”Dragonstone,” the premiere episode of the seventh season of the phenomenally successful Game of Thrones set a new all-time ratings record for the premium cable channel HBO by snagging 10.1 million viewers, a 12% increase from the series’ highest first run viewership of 8.89 million achieved by the finale of Season Six, which aired in June of 2016.  In addition 6 million watched the show via streaming services HBO Go and HBO Now as well as same day viewing on VCRs.  The total first day viewership of 16.1 million represents a 50% increase over the total for the Season 6 premiere (see "'Game of Thrones' Finale Ratings").

Game of Thrones looks more and more like a 21st Century Dallas, a once-in-a-generation sort of hit, especially since its viewership keeps growing with each season.  Interest in the premiere of Season 7 was so high that, according to The Hollywood Reporter HBO’s Website crashed during the first half of GoT debut, and some viewers reported slow loading of the episode on HBO Go and HBO Now.

The "Dragonstone" episode also inspired a record number of tweets, some 2.4 million, making it according to Twitter, the most tweeted about show in TV history.  The Twitter activity peaked  during Ed Sheeran’s cameo.

The record viewership for the GoT finale is especially impressive given that it came in the middle of the summer, traditionally the period when Americans watch TV the least, and after the longest hiatus between seasons in the show’s history.  The huge viewership of the first episode shows that the only damage from the long break between seasons for the show, which has won more Emmy Awards than any comparable show in history, is that it won’t be eligible for this year’s awards, and will have to wait until 2018 to gain recognition.

The question for the future is how high can ratings for GoT go?  The finale of every season has always outstripped the debut episode in the ratings, and the show’s only limitation appears to be the fact that there are only 12 episodes left.  HBO is working hard on prequel series (see "Four 'Game of Thrones' Offshoot Series In the Works" and "Fifth 'Game of Thrones' Spin-off"), but neither the cast, nor the showrunners are on board for those shows.