The Last of Us HBO series continues meteoric rise & sets new viewership record

Eleni Thomas
The Last of Us header

The Last of Us continues to prove itself as a massive hit for HBO, with the most recent episode of the show once again increasing its viewership despite being in direct competition with the likes of The Grammys. 

HBO’s The Last of Us is quickly becoming an unstoppable force when it comes to bringing in new and pre-existing viewers each and every week, With newly released Episode 4 yet again seeing an increase in overall viewership on the service.

As reported by Variety, The Last of Us Episode 4 saw an extra 1.1 million viewers tuning into the new release compared to the previous week. What’s more, this increase was achieved despite the fact that the episode aired at the same time as the biggest music awards of the year, The Grammys.

So far, each episode of the series has seen massive growth week over week. Episode 1 debuted with 4.7 millions viewers, the second had 5.7 million, the third came in with 6.4 million watchers, and then the most recent episode clocked in with a staggering 7.5 million viewers.

On top of HBO’s success, the popularity of the show has also seen an extreme rise in sales for the original video game. Just weeks prior we reported that sales for the first game have skyrocketed.

In the UK specifically, The Last of Us Part I has now climbed into the Top 20 games for the region, with sales increasing by a staggering 238% week-on-week. Similarly, the remastered PS4 version of the first game has seen a massive increase in sales with a 322% sales spike. 

Time will tell if the show continues to grow at the rapid rate it has been. However, the new episode has been moved to Friday to avoid clashing with the Super Bowl, so be sure to watch out for the change in air date this upcoming week.

For all the latest TV and movie news and updates, be sure to check out Dexerto’s full coverage here.

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About The Author

Eleni is a Melbourne-based journalist. Having completed her Bachelor's in communication (Journalism) at RMIT University, Eleni is now a senior writer for the Dexerto Australia team. A big Nintendo fan (with a Triforce tattoo to prove it) and a lover of the zombie genre, Eleni covers gaming, entertainment as well as TV and movies for the site. She is also passionate about covering Queer and female representation. Contact Eleni at eleni.thomas@dexerto.com