The concept of viewers around the world becoming excited over the prospect of another season of a television series used to be a common occurrence. Not since the days of Dallas, however, have we witnessed something like we are seeing with a particular show right now. While it might make more sense for that show to come from a streaming service, such as Amazon or Netflix, it’s HBO’s Game of Thrones that continues to cause a stir among television viewers across the globe. Let’s examine why the show has become the phenomenon it has.
It could be just about anywhere
In real life, the show was filmed in numerous locations, including Ireland. Its setting, however, is a world that it’s culturally or geographically distinctive to the US, which helps to broaden our fan base. A number of shows that aren’t specific to a particular country can be counted among the more successful in global terms, such as Gulliver’s Travels and Odyssey. It didn’t hurt, either, that there was already a series of novels that inspired the show that came with a built-in worldwide fan base.
HBO’s most popular show
By 2014, Game of Thrones had become the biggest hit on the network. As its popularity rose, however, so did its level of piracy. It’s difficult to measure unauthorised video access with any certainty, but the show was also labelled by many as the world’s most pirated show. HBO decided against using the internet to distribute the show to worldwide subscribers in the way that Amazon Video and Netflix have done. The internet did have a significant influence on the show’s worldwide growth, however, simply because of the opportunities that fans had to inerrant with each other.
Fans simply had to watch
The surprising and intricate storylines that feature on the show led to immediate analysis and dissection on social media platforms. This caused fans in television markets outside if the U.S. to search for unauthorised video sources. There was no other way for them to avoid spoilers.
GOT is everywhere
“Game of Thrones” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by theglobalpanorama
The phenomenon that made its way to our TV screens, and seemingly every social media platform on the planet, didn’t stop there. There’s the Game of Thrones board game, for example, or Risk game of Thrones edition. Of course, there’s also the 2014 video game from Telltale Games, which includes characters, voice actors, and settings. There’s even an online GOT video slot game at Casino Euro, featuring 15 paylines. The bonuses are named after characters from the show, such as the Baratheon bonus round, which offers the user eight free games.
Simulcasting
While stories in the news about piracy emphasise just how popular this series became, and while that may have been free promotion for HBO, the network would have preferred viewers to get their fix through authorised channels. One solution was to eliminate any delay in being able to access the show. Just prior to season five in 2015, HBO announced delays in 170 global markets to air the Game of Thrones at the same time as it did in the U.S. While Doctor Who did the same in 2013, broadcasting simultaneously in 94 countries, it was a one-off in celebration of its 50th anniversary. HBO just may be the only network that could have pulled it off in quite this way.
