The Last of Us Episode 8 Draws 8.1 Million Viewers, Scores a Series High for HBO
The Last of Us episode 8 drew an impressive 8.1 million viewers, on Monday, across HBO and linear telecasts. The figures mark a 74 percent increase from the series debut in January — 4.7 million viewers — making episode 8, ‘When We Are in Need,' the most viewed chapter, as per WarnerMedia. The numbers were tallied based on Nielsen and first-party data and do not include details from Disney+ Hotstar, which is India's destination to watch The Last of Us. The record was previously held by episode 4, which garnered 7.5 million viewers. HBO did not reveal viewership data for The Last of Us episodes 5, 6, and 7.
As per HBO, The Last of Us was also the top title overall on HBO Max for the eighth consecutive week, with all episodes ranking among the week's top 10 individual assets. When looking at the first five episodes, the average audience count is nearing 30 million across HBO cable and HBO Max. By setting these records and winning over fans of the original PlayStation video game, creators Neil Druckmann and Craig Mazin managed to secure a second season in January, which will focus on events from The Last of Us Part II — the polarising and exceedingly gory sequel, chasing after a 19-year-old Ellie. The Last of Us was an instant success for HBO, with the pilot scoring the network its second-most-watched debut. The first is the Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon with nearly 10 million viewers.
The Last of Us then built on that achievement, gaining 5.7 million viewers in episode 2, denoting a 22 percent jump over the pilot. It then reached another milestone with 6.4 million in episode 3 and 7.5 million in the fourth chapter. There was a minor shake-up after that, thanks to the Super Bowl LVII event, which
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