The premiere of the fifth season of HBO's Game of Thrones broke ratings records for Foxtel, ranking as the most watched drama program in Australian subscription television history.
A combined cumulative average audience of 553,000 viewers tuned into the first episode on showcase on Monday, 76% up on last season.
Simulcast live in more than 170 countries, the premiere hooked 242,000 viewers at 11 am while a further 311,000 tuned in for the 7.30pm screening.
That's despite the fact the first four episodes were leaked online a day before the premiere, evidently coming from review copies sent to the press. During the first three hours the episodes were downloaded more than 100,000 times worldwide and some commentators expected that number to exceed 1 million within 24 hours.
TorrentFreak said the most downloaded episodes originated from the UK and the US, followed by India, Canada, France, Greece, the Netherlands and Australia.
Episodes from the first four seasons of the medieval action fantasy were downloaded more than 7 million times worldwide from February 5 through April 6 this year, according to anti-piracy firm Irdeto.
Foxtel's previous high was the May 1 2013 debut of Wentworth, which attracted a cumulative average audience of 631,000 across the first week, including all airings and time-shift viewing.
A consolidated cumulative figure incorporating all screenings of the Game of Thrones premiere will be finalised in 10 days.