HBO has delivered subscribers compelling content for decades, starting by broadcasting the most sought-after films before eventually expanding into original, exciting content. Few series have garnered as much attention for the network as Game of Thrones which, after eight seasons, has finally come to an end. The program was such a draw for customers that, rather than finding alternative ways to witness the series, viewers signed up for the service directly to ensure they could watch new episodes as quickly as possible. With the series over, however, there has been a surge on Google for people searching for the process of canceling their accounts.
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As pointed out by BGR, the search term “cancel HBO” has seen the highest spike on Google since the series began. The last biggest spike, as seen in the graph below, corresponds to the conclusion of the seventh season of the series.
The popularity of the search doesn’t directly relate to the number of cancelled subscriptions, but HBO can likely expect to lose a number of their customers now that Game of Thrones has concluded. The company doesn’t seem fazed by the reaction, as HBO programming president Casey Bloys revealed earlier this week to Deadline that they’ve come to accept these fluctuations in subscribers.
“Historically what we have seen is, before any kind of tentpole show like Game of Thrones, True Detective, Westworld — obviously Game of Thrones is the biggest — there is usually an uptick of subscriptions for the show and then down afterwards,” Bloys admitted. “Usually what we are expecting is a net gain. So there are absolutely people who watched HBO for Game of Thrones, but historically, we usually end up with a net gain, and that’s what I expect in this case as well.”
It’s also worth noting that the cancellation of the service doesn’t directly reflect the audience’s response to the finale, as even fans of the series who used the service only for Game of Thrones and loved the finale would have no use for it going forward.
“There’s no way for [co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] to have landed this plane in a way that would have made everybody happy and they’re not out to make everybody happy,” Bloys shared with The Hollywood Reporter. “I think they did a beautiful job. You just have to accept that not everybody is going to agree with the choices. I’m paraphrasing Tim but basically for show this big, and this epic and this sprawling, they [Benioff and Weiss] have to make choices.”
Will you be canceling your HBO membership now that Game of Thrones is over? Let us know in the comments below!
