Why the ‘Game of Thrones’ Season Premiere Was Bad News for the Porn Industry

Pornhub reports a 4.5 percent traffic drop during season debut of HBO’s dragons-and-swords epic

Winter may have been coming during the Season 7 premiere of “Game of Thrones” on Sunday, but in other, slightly more sordid segments of the entertainment industry, the season debut of HBO’s fantasy series also had a chilling effect.

During Sunday’s season premiere, leading adult-video outlet Pornhub experienced a 4.5 percent  traffic drop nationwide.

That’s a “considerable change,” Pornhub noted, given that “Sunday night is one of the most popular times for people to visit Pornhub.”

This isn’t the first time that the dragons-and-swords epic has caused onanists to keep their lap-lances sheathed. The Season 6 “Game of Thrones” premiere in April 2016 also put a dent in Pornhub’s traffic, resulting in a 4.1 percent traffic drop.

Meanwhile, the Season 6 finale last June caused the site’s traffic to plummet 5.2 percent, compared to an average Sunday evening before the season premiered.

Episode 4 of Season 6, “Book of the Stranger,” also had a dramatic effect on Pornhub’s traffic, resulting in a 4.9 percent drop.

Sunday’s season premiere drew 10.1 million linear viewers, but viewership swelled to 16.1 million when counting multiple platforms, making Sunday HBO’s most-watched premiere evening ever — yes, for any series in the pay-TV channel’s history.

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