How Game of Thrones changed television

Posted by Norman Weiss
Friday 4/05/19 at 10:58PM EDT

The New York Times

The George R.R. Martin fantasy series is the most successful show in HBO history. Since its debut in 2011, HBO's competitors have sought a network-defining Game of Thrones-like show of their own. "Consider that in the streaming era, the number of scripted shows airing in the United States has shot up 86 percent, from 266 in 2011 to 495 last year," says John Koblin. "Yet amid this glut no series has had more influence or created more industrywide envy than Thrones...Everyone wants its reach: It’s the most popular show in HBO’s history and one of the most watched shows of the last decade (when including digital viewership, its most recent season averaged more than 30 million viewers an episode). Everyone wants its scale and scope: The series was one of the most influential in an era where television budgets for dramas have ballooned from $3 million an episode to, in some cases, $10 million or more. Everyone wants its boldness: Thrones famously killed off the face of the show, Sean Bean, before its first season was over and has repeatedly redefined assumptions about what’s possible on TV, both tonally (sexposition, shocking violence) and technically (dragons, sweeping battle scenes). And everyone, including newer outlets like Hulu and Apple, have been looking for the next Thrones, a series that can define a network, and help convince people to hand over $10 or $15 a month for subscriptions."
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TOPICS: Game of Thrones, HBO, Ed Sheeran, Kit Harington, Marketing, Oreo, Peak TV
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