HBO‘s standalone streaming service HBO Now is experiencing the dragon bump: Downloads of HBO Now’s app for iOS and Android more than quadrupled on the day of the Season 7 premiere of “Game of Thrones” on July 16, and stayed on that level for multiple days, according to new data from app performance measurement specialist App Annie.
HBO Now saw more than 500,000 combined downloads across Apple’s App Store and Google Play during the week following the premiere, according to App Annie.
HBO Go, the network’s authenticated streaming app for existing cable subscribers, also saw a big lift, with downloads more than tripling the day of the season premiere and the two following days compared to the previous 30-day average. This was true both in the U.S., as well as globally, since HBO Go is also available in a number of other countries where HBO is part of the cable line-up.
What’s more, “Game of Thrones” also helped HBO generate some real money from in-app subscriptions. In-app revenue tripled on the day of the season premiere compared to the average daily revenue during the 30 days prior to the premiere.
Popular on Variety
Thanks to paying new subscribers, the HBO Now app even ranked third on the charts for overall combined iOS and Android app revenue on July 16, surpassing all other apps but the immensely popular two games “Candy Crush Saga” and “Clash of Clans”. Before the premiere, it had ranked 11th.
And here’s another tidbit showing how big of an impact the show had on HBO Now in particular: In June, the app ranked 29th for combined downloads among entertainment apps across Google Play and Apple’s App Store. In the week of Jul 16 – July 22, HBO Now shot up to become the 15th most-downloaded app across all apps in both app stores, period.