Steps for Set-Up:

1. Download live U.S. viewership data for each episode from "Game of Thrones" Wikipedia page, using the Listly app for web scraping.

2. Add IMDb ratings to the Excel spreadsheet.

3. Clean up data for consistency and readability.

4. Open Power BI and connect to the Excel spreadsheet to create data visualizations.

Questions:

1. How did "Game of Thrones" viewership change over the course of the series?

Answer: Average U.S. live viewership increased every season. The first season had an average of 2.52 million viewers per episode, which increased up to the last season, which had an average of 11.99 million viewers per episode.

The biggest increase in viewership from season to season was between Season 6 and Season 7: Season 6 had an average viewership of 7.69 million, and Season 7 had an average viewership of 10.26 million: an increase of 2.57 million viewers per episode.

2. How did "Game of Thrones" IMDb ratings change over the course of the series?

Answer: The average IMDb rating varied from season to season. The highest-rated season was season 4, with an average IMDb rating of 92.3. The lowest-rated season was the last season, with an average IMDb rating of 64.17.

The other seasons maintained high average IMDb ratings, all between 87 and 90.29.

3. What was the most-watched and least-watched episode?

Answer: The most watched episode was the series finale, "The Iron Throne," with 13.61 million live U.S. viewers. Keep in mind that this does not include international viewers or people who streamed the finale after its live viewing, so the total number of viewers is likely much higher.

"The Iron Throne" was directed and written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and aired on May 19, 2019. This is also the lowest-rated episode by IMDb, which gave a score of 40.

The least-watched episode was "The Kingsroad," from Season 1, Episode 2. It was directed by Tim Van Patten and written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, and aired on April 24, 2011 to 2.2 million viewers.

4. What were the highest-rated episodes?

Answer: Three episodes tied for the highest IMDb rating:

o “The Rains of Castamere,” S3 E9, IMDb 99

o “Battle of the Bastards,” S6, E9, IMDb 99

o “The Winds of Winter,” S6, E10, IMDb 99

Conclusion:

I was surprised by how dramatically the "Game of Thrones" viewership increased between Season 6 and Season 8 (the last season.) "Game of Thrones" turned into a cultural phenomenon, taking over NPR, Reddit, and all other social media and news outlets. I think the high live number of viewers (relative to other current HBO shows) is because of FOMO -- viewers wanted to discuss the shows with their friends and be up-to-date to avoid any "spoilers."

It did not surprise me that the IMDb rating for the series finale was lower relative to other "Thrones" episodes, since it relied so heavily on CGI and the plot endings were unsatisfying. However, I was surprised that the series finale was rated quite as low as it was (40.) This is dramatically lower than any other episode. Most other episodes ranged between IMDB 80-99.

Questions for Further Research:

1. What is the distribution of awards among the actors? Which actor received the most accolades?

2. Which actor is the "most popular" among viewers, based on social media followers, activity, and engagement?

3. How does the average viewership of "Game of Thrones" compare to other HBO drama series in the day of social media?

4. How does social media activity for "Game of Thrones" compare to other HBO dramas? Look at the Game of Thrones subreddit followers, the frequency and quality of posts.