The Last of Us hits new same-day series high with 8.1 million viewers ahead of ... trends now
HBO's The Last of Us continues to be a huge hit for the pay cable network, with Sunday night's penultimate Season 1 episode reaching a new series high for same-day viewership.
The hit series raked in 8.1 million viewers for Sunday night's new episode entitled When We Are In Need, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The 8.1 million same-day viewers marks a whopping 74% increase over the series premiere that aired on January 15, which was watched by 4.7 million viewers.
The premiere was the second-most-watched premiere in over a decade, behind the Game of Thrones prequel series House of the Dragon (5.7 million viewers).
HBO also revealed that the first five episodes of the series - based on the 2013 video game of the same name - is 'approaching' an average of 30 million viewers per episode on HBO Max and other on-demand viewing options.
Series high: HBO's The Last of Us continues to be a huge hit for the pay cable network, with Sunday night's penultimate Season 1 episode reaching a new series high for same-day viewership
Viewers: The hit series raked in 8.1 million viewers for Sunday night's new episode entitled When We Are In Need, according to The Hollywood Reporter
If those numbers remain throughout the rest of the season, it would surpass the average of 29 million viewers per episode for HBO's House of the Dragon.
Viewership for the first four episodes of The Last of Us continued to climb, with 5.7 million viewers for the second episode, the largest increase between a premiere and second episode in HBO history, which lead to a Season 2 renewal.
The third episode pulled in 6.4 million viewers with 7.5 million viewers for the fourth episode, reaching a series high despite airing alongside the Grammy Awards.
The show took its first ratings hit, of sorts, in the fifth episode, which debuted two days early on HBO Max to avoid clashing with the Super Bowl that night.
While the ratings dipped in the fifth episode, they continued to rebound in the sixth and seventh episodes, with the seventh episode topping 1 million viewers for only the linear HBO
