“Game of Thrones” Broke Viewer Records on Foxtel Yesterday (Despite Its Streaming App Crashing)

Fans were not amused.

As you no doubt are fully aware, Game of Thrones returned yesterday.

Anticipation was high for the show’s return, following a 13-month absence, and it paid off for Foxtel, who hold the exclusive airing rights for GOT in Australia.

According to a press release, the premiere episode of GOT’s seventh season achieved the “highest ratings ever for a series in the history of subscription television in Australia.”

If you want the raw numbers, you can have them: The ‘day one’ audience of 820,000 viewers was an all-time record; up 16 per cent from Season Six’s debut.

When you combine those viewers with fans who streamed “Dragonstone” through Foxtel Now and the Foxtel App, the ratings jump to 893,000.

Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television, said he expects the number “to tilt at 1.5 million by the week’s end”.

Imagine what that number might have been if Foxtel Now hadn’t crashed during the broadcast, on account of the overwhelming demand.

This is why we can't have nice things.

— Jay (@jayman6) July 17, 2017

How Foxtel Now users feel right now pic.twitter.com/vxxDHqA3Za

— C. Robertson (@C_N_Robertson) July 17, 2017

Try to do the right thing by paying for Foxtel Now to watch #GameofThrones7 & it isn't working!! THIS IS WHY PEOPLE PIRATE!! @FOXTEL_Help

— Lauren (@laurenN_01) July 17, 2017

Foxtel released another, less celebratory statement yesterday when it became apparent that people were not able to witness Ed Sheeran’s gratuitous cameo.

Spokesman Bruce Meagher said, “We are devastated that some customers experienced technical issues tonight.”

“Foxtel engineers are working through the night to resolve the issue,” he added.

“It’s most unfortunate and we apologise to those affected. We are committed to resolving the technical faults immediately and together with our broadcast partners around the world, we are giving this the same degree of priority.”

Here’s hoping the issue is rectified before next week’s ep.

New episodes of Game of Throne premiere on Foxtel at 11am AEST on Mondays, at the same time as the U.S.

Photo: HBO