Ratings: Game of Thrones season 7 finale notches new viewership record

Game of Thrones ended its penultimate season on a record-shattering note. Sunday's super-sized Season 7 finale drew a series-high 12.1 million viewers in its initial 9/8c airing. That's up nearly 40 percent compared to the Season 6 finale, which attracted 8.9 million viewers.

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For historical perspective's sake, the Emmy-winning drama's first five season finales delivered, respectively, 3 million, 4.2 million, 5.4 million, 7.1 million and 8.1 million total viewers.

TVLine readers gave this year's 80-minute closer an average grade of "A-."