'Game of Thrones' Ratings are Way Ahead of Last Year

LOS ANGELES - The fifth season debut of "Game of Thrones," is showing the highly popular HBO show is way ahead of last year's massive numbers, the network says.

With the ratings for HBO Go, HBO Now and on-demand views, the show's debut episode has grossee 18.1 million viewers or more than 1 million viewers from last year, during a season that garnered a record of 19.1 million viewers per episode.

The network had previously announced that the show had scored 8 million viewers for the day of its original debut.

The fantasy-drama, which debuted in April 2011, tells the story of several noble families that battle for control of the mythical land of Westeros. It stars Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke.