[paulcole]

> For example, about 20 million people tuned in to watch the first episode of the latest season of hit show Game of Thrones.

> It was one of the most-watched non-sporting events in TV history.

This is not even close to true.

Nearly 17 million people watched the Murder She Wrote finale in 1996. In the 1970s, each year, the highest rated episodes of All In The Family were consistently over 20 million. Seinfeld had 35 million once. 60 minutes has gone over 20 million many times.

Grace Under Fire, a mediocre sitcom most people here have never heard of, averaged about 20 million viewers for a full season in the mid 1990s.

I love when TV writers act like TV didn’t exist before The Sopranos.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_watched_televis...

[yasth]

Because the numbers are kind of crap lately. People don't realize just how the average episode of Friends beat 20 million for every one of 10 seasons [1]. The audience is fragmented like never before.

A small correction though, All in the Family was on average over 20 million households, and before every house had seven tvs that was significantly more viewers.

http://newmusicandmore.tripod.com/friendsratings.html

[paulcole]

Households over 20 million also equals viewers over 20 million.