After more than a 19 month hiatus, the Game of Thrones TV show is back on HBO for its eighth and final season. Although HBO isn’t ad-supported, and we don’t have to wonder whether Game of Thrones is cancelled or renewed for season nine, there are still reasons to track this TV series’ Nielsen ratings performance. Once upon a time we were told, “Winter is coming.” Now there is a prequel series on the way, and this show’s viewership will be a benchmark for it and other HBO TV shows, so stay tuned.

Based on A Song of Ice and Fire, the best-selling George R.R. Martin book series, Game of Thrones stars Peter Dinklage, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, Liam Cunningham, Sophie Turner, and Maisie Williams. The HBO cast also includes Iain Glen, Alfie Allen, John Bradley, Gwendoline Christie, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jerome Flynn, Isaac Hempstead Wright, Conleth Hill, Kristofer Hivju, Hannah Murray, Carice van Houten, Rory McCann, and Joe Dempsie, and more.

The drama is billed as an epic story of treachery and nobility in a savage world — a place where summers and winters can last for years and the lust for power is eternal. As the final installment, season eight is shrouded in secrecy; HBO hasn’t even released episode titles. Because Martin has not yet finished writing the books — The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring –the six-episode eighth season is largely made up of original content, but creators and executive producers David Benioff and D. B. Weiss have consulted with him on the ending.

The ratings are typically the best indication of a show’s chances of staying on the air but barring some unforeseen catastrophe, cancellation is not in the cards for this HBO TV series. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available.

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For comparisons: The seventh season of Game of Thrones averaged a 4.76 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 10.259 million viewers — a significant increase over season six.

What do you think? Do you still like the Game of Thrones TV series? Is season eight the right time to end it, or would you have watched a ninth season on HBO?