re: 'The Last of Us' Season 2 Discussion Thread | No Game Spoilers/Discussion

3.7 mil for the S2 finale, down from 8.2 for the S1 finale. Season to season they’re down 32%.

quote:

---

HBO Original THE LAST OF US has seen a major influx of viewers to the TV series with global audience upon the arrival of Season 2 exceeding over 90 million since season one ended.

---

Yeah I saw this. It’s unclear what it actually means. It seems to mean that global average viewership per episode was 90 million between the end of season 1 and start of season 2. If that’s the case then the 37 million global average for season 2 (as of the finale) looks way worse, not better. But it’s a fairly ambiguous statement.

quote:

---

and none of that implies that the audience is shrinking from Season 1's audience

---

You mean other than the part that says season 2 finale viewership was 55% lower than season 1? Or the part that says season 2 average global viewership was only ~16% higher than season 1 average US viewership?

Look, I agree that they are implying season 2 viewership is up. And they’ve apparently been pretty successful at gaslighting folks into believing that’s what the data says. I’ve seen quite a few articles that say the same thing you said in this thread - that season 2 viewership was 37 million, up from 32 million in season 1. So their attempt to paint the numbers in a much more favorable light seems to be working.

But, again, the actual data in their release does not say that season 2 has had higher viewership. At best it’s sloppy. At worst (and more likely IMO) it’s intentionally obfuscated.

“If the finale gets 37 million viewers I doubt they care if they tune in on memorial sunday or tuesday.”


So it’s going to get over 5.5 million views per day when the debut got 3.7 on a Holliday night? Lmfao sure buddy.

Either you’re lying about that or they’re lying to you. Those numbers are laughable

Who cares what the numbers are watch it or don't, stand alone it's a "good" show, compared to the game, which brought in the viewers in the first place it's not even close to what we expected.

Obviously false, we know the S1 premier hit 4.7mil, S1 finale hit 8.2. S2 premier hit 5.3 while the finale dropped to 3.7. Those are facts which makes your absurd 37-80 million per episode claims impossible.

We have so many "grass cultivated for its edible grain" down voters on here the system needs to go or you need to be see who they are.



Here is a hint for those that don't get the reference. Roof of my mouth be damned when I was a kid.

quote:

---

Regardless it's very clear that the numbers are pretty similar and up globally while maybe being down in the US slightly.

---

Are you serious right now? That’s not clear at all.

The day after the s1 finale WBD reported 30.4 million average US viewers per episode. The day after the s2 finale they reported 37 million average global viewers per episode.

Let’s say US viewership was the same for both seasons for the sake of argument. If that were true, then for global viewership to be “up” for season 2 it would mean that season 1 only had ~6.6 million viewers outside the US per episode. OK, maybe.. except WBD/HBO said this in the same season 1 press release:

quote:

---

Outside of the U.S., THE LAST OF US is now the most-watched show in the history of HBO Max in both Europe and Latin America.

---

Now.. maybe you’re right. Maybe they truly did see a huge increase in global viewership, and maybe the most-watched show in HBO history in Europe/Latin America (at the time) did only have 6-7 million international viewers. But that’s certainly not “clear.”

Even if it were true, though, it’s entirely possible that greater international viewership simply correlates to increased HBO presence internationally rather than increased interest - which is kind of the point of comparing US viewership.

It’s also entirely possible, based on the data available, that both international and domestic viewership are way down.

quote:

---

Episode 6 got 0.7 million Sunday cable viewers and reached 37 million. what makes you think Episode 7 won't?

---

Where are you getting the 0.7 million? Because it sounds like you’re comparing apples to oranges again. The 3.7 million number for the s2 finale is total US cross-platform audience. Meaning streaming + cable. WBD has conspicuously decided not to report same-day viewing for S2E2-S2E6.

Meanwhile the 37 million is a global average cross-platform viewership per episode. Episode 6 could be considerably less than that. Or considerably more than that, although that seems unlikely considering you would expect the most-watched episodes to be skewed towards the beginning of the season (who starts watching a show halfway through a season without catching up?).

The crazy thing is putting people putting so much time and effort into posts on a message board, unless I am posting a travel review there is no way I would spend that kind of time. Some people are either born to argue even when they will not change anyone's mind, or are WAY passionate about the subject.

quote:

---

Where are you getting the 0.7 million?

---

from the Sunday ratings. we won't see them for the finale until tomorrow.

the last big HBO memorial day finale i could find was succession finale in 2023. On May 28, 2023, the Succession series finale, "With Open Eyes," drew in a series-high 2.9 million viewers.

So The Last of Us did beat it's Memorial day performance.