‘Twin Peaks’ Switches Schedule to Avoid Ratings Battle With ‘Game of Thrones’
The game of ratings chicken between “Game of Thrones” and “Twin Peaks” has ended with a decisive victory for the people (and dragons) of Westeros.
Starting Sunday, Aug. 8, “Twin Peaks” will be shifting an hour earlier in the Showtime schedule to 8 p.m. in order to avoid competing with HBO’s monster hit.
The news was announced by moderator at the end of the “Twin Peaks” Comic-Con panel, “A Damn Fine Panel” Friday afternoon in Hall H.
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Last Sunday’s “Game of Thrones” Season 7 premiere episode scored 10.1 million linear viewers, which grows to a massive 16.1 million when counting multiple platforms.
More specifically, that latter figure factors in those linear plays, along with same-day DVR playback and HBO Go/Now. It also makes Sunday HBO’s new most-watched premiere evening ever — yes, for any series in the pay-TV channel’s history.
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The 16-plus million tally was a whopping 50 percent higher than last year’s Season 6 premiere. The linear-only total saw some big growth itself — that Nielsen figure is up 27 percent from last season’s debut in April, which had hauled in 7.9 million viewers.
So yes, it’s safe to say that Showtime made a wise decision not wanting to throw David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” into the fighting pit with the George R.R. Martin fantasy adaptation. There’s not enough coffee or pie in the world to survive that.
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