Everyone was waiting for “Game of Thrones” this weekend and it was destined to be a social hit. According to ListenFirst Media, which calculates a show’s Digital Audience Rating (DAR-TV™) based on social mentions, it was the number one scripted drama on Sunday, with aDAR-TV™ of 1.3 million.
Other premium scripted dramas also do well on premiere night. But science fiction shows seem to have more engaged audiences. From ListenFirst:
- On the day The Walking Dead Season 5 premiered, it generated a DAR-TV ™ 5.5M
- On the day GIRLS Season 4 premiered, it generated a DAR-TV™ 356.6K
- On the day Homeland Season 4 premiered, it generated a DAR-TV™ 161.5K
It also doesn’t seem like the leak affected premiere ratings, though we’re tracking how the DAR-TV™ holds up with ListenFirst to see if people are tuning in and talking about the leaked episodes as they air linearly. And it was just four episodes. Remember when the entire season of “House of Cards” leaked for a few hours? It generated a DAR-TV™ of 88.2K during the leak, but a DAR-TV™ of 568.0K on the actual release date. That leak didn’t last long and Netflix was able to shut it down. The “Game of Thrones” episodes are still out there, somewhere. It’s possible that the four episodes being available mere hours before the official premiere generated more social chatter around it.
The DAR-TV™ takes into account any engagement around a show, which ListenFirst treats as brands — so even when “Game of Thrones” is not currently in-season, it has a DAR-TV™ rating. They track engagements across all platforms. Liking something on Instagram, Facebook, Wikipedia entries, Tumblr postings, views and likes on YouTube all count towards the DAR-TV™. You can read about their methodology here.