HBO’s Game of Thrones Season 4 finale drew 7.1 million viewers on Sunday, beating the 5.4 million who tuned in for the previous season’s last episode.
Once repeats were taken into account, the finale for the fourth season was seen by 9.3 million people.
Total viewing figures, including video on demand and mobile streaming have not yet been released.
Game of Thrones is now HBO’s most popular series, surpassing The Sopranos.
Game of Thrones Season 4 finale drew 7.1 million viewers
The average audience during series four, including catch-up services, has been 18.6 million per episode. The Sopranos’ audience peaked at 18.2 million in 2002, giving it the HBO record until now.
The show is engaged in a ratings war with zombie thriller The Walking Dead, which attracted 15.7 million viewers for its season finale in April.
However, broadcaster AMC said its audience jumped to 28 million once repeats and on-demand figures were taken into account.
The final Game of Thrones episode, The Children, saw many of the show’s leading characters making key decisions which will impact them in future episodes, while several met a typically grisly end.
Season five has already been confirmed.
Game of Thrones TV series is based on the books, A Song of Ice and Fire by George RR Martin, set in the mythical, medieval land of Westeros.
In the north, a massive wall of ice keeps out barbarian “wildlings” and zombie-like “white walkers”. South of the wall, there is a bitter war between rival claimants for the Iron Throne and rule of the seven kingdoms of Westeros.
Meanwhile, a princess exiled to distant lands with three dragons has rallied an army of freed slaves.
Game of Thrones is full of intense political intrigue, with war and its aftermath depicted in brutal detail. The show first aired in 2011 featuring actors including Peter Dinklage, Charles Dance, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Maisie Williams.
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Oscars 2013, hosted by Seth MacFarlane, attracted a TV audience of 40.3 million, a million more than tuned in to 2012’s broadcast.
According to the ABC network, the show – hosted by Seth MacFarlane, creator of hit TV cartoon Family Guy – drew the largest Oscar audience for three years.
Last year’s show, hosted by comic Billy Crystal, was seen by 39.3 million, while 2011’s was seen by 37.6 million.
Argo won best picture at this year’s event, while Daniel Day-Lewis was named best actor for a record third time.
According to statistics company Nielsen, Seth MacFarlane’s involvement helped boost interest among young men and the 18- to 49-year-old age group.
Figures for the latter demographic, which is much coveted by TV advertisers, were up 11% on last year, while the 18- to 34-year-old male audience saw a 34% increase.
Reaction to Seth MacFarlane’s performance has been mixed, with Rolling Stone saying he resembled a “bumbling rookie” in his first stab at Oscar host.
The New Yorker was no less scathing, saying that watching the three-and-a-half hour ceremony “meant sitting through a series of crudely sexist antics”.
Oscars 2013, hosted by Seth MacFarlane, attracted a TV audience of 40.3 million, a million more than tuned in to 2012’s broadcast
Satirical website The Onion also found itself under fire on Sunday after calling Quvenzhane Wallis, the 9-year-old star of Beasts of the Southern Wild, a “crude and offensive” name on Twitter.
Steve Hannah, the website’s chief executive, apologized to the best actress nominee, saying that “no person should be subjected to such a senseless, humorless comment masquerading as satire”.
It has also emerged that an Oscar-winning producer was briefly ejected from Sunday’s star-studded ceremony for throwing paper airplanes around the auditorium.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, security staff at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre took issue with Kristina Reed for recreating the action of Paperman, this year’s best animated short.
Life of Pi took home the most awards on Sunday, winning four prizes including a best director accolade for Taiwan’s Ang Lee.
Argo and Les Miserables won three Oscars apiece, with Django Unchained, Lincoln and Bond movie Skyfall receiving two awards each.
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