'Game Of Thrones' Finale Makes HBO History

HBO's "Game of Thrones' may have the most momentum of any show on television right now.

Sunday night's 10-minutes-extended, sophomore-season finale captivated 4.2 million viewers during its 9 PM ET first broadcast, according to The Hollywood Reporter. By the time credits rolled on its additional airings that evening, the average had ticked almost a full million viewers to 5.1 million per airing.

Let's start breaking down the phenomenon's magnitude.

Those numbers leapt forward 38 percent from the first season's 2011 finale. At 3 million viewers in its own right, up from the freshman season's 2.2-million premiere, that means Sunday's episode set a new series high. The penultimate Memorial Day weekend outing, "Blackwater," pulled in 3.4 million viewers and was the most-watched nonsports broadcast that night. Factoring in HBO Go, DVR and HBO On Demand numbers, the 10.3 million viewers per episode gross average usurps the first season's 9.3 million average - making it the third-most-watched show in the network's history.

Wow.

Consider that company a moment. On a network that's produced "The Sopranos," "Sex And The City," "The Wire," "The Larry Sanders Show," "Six Feet Under" and other landmark, iconic cable series, "Game Of Thrones" has thrust itself among the elite in only its second season.

Oh, and of course, it's already guaranteed a third season premiering April 2013.