'Game of Thrones' Keeps Getting Bigger

As if Games of Thrones needed more good news, the hottest show on TV is getting even hotter as it moves into its sixth season. Ratings numbers released this week confirm that the series is having its best season ever to date, with average viewership of the season's first three episodes coming in well above previous seasons' averages.

The season premiere of GoT on April 24 was actually down a touch from last season's premiere, but the difference - 7.94 million viewers versus last year's 8 million - was negligible. Episodes two and three this season, however, have both come in at about 7.3 million viewers, while last season averaged about 6.75 million viewers for those two episodes. The average is up 5% from last year and 15% from two years ago.

The show is also improving in terms of the 18-49 age demographic, although that statistic isn't as big a deal with HBO as it is with broadcast and cable networks; the pay-TV HBO doesn't need to please advertisers by delivering them hordes of young viewers.

The steady and strong ratings seem to suggest that the series' controversial cliffhanger that bridged this season and last, in which the popular Jon Snow character was killed and then brought back to life, didn't do much to dampen the enthusiasm of fans.