Season 4 Return of GAME OF THRONES is the Most-Watched Premiere in HBO Canada History With More Than 1.1 Million Viewers

- Subscribers can catch up on Episode 1 of GAME OF THRONES now on TMN GO, Shaw Go Movie Central app, Bell TV app, and Telus Optik on the go  -

- New episode of GAME OF THRONES airs next Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/MT on HBO Canada -

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"The premiere of GAME OF THRONES' fourth season is a whirlwind of an episode, a blistering bit of scene-setting that moves quickly to bring the viewer back up to speed on the whereabouts of the show's sprawling cast of characters." - Joel Eastwood, Toronto Star

To tweet this release: http://bit.ly/1e5Y7vX

TORONTO, April 7, 2014 /CNW/ - Canadians flocked to Westeros in record numbers for last night's premiere of Season 4 of HBO's massively popular epic fantasy series GAME OF THRONES. The Season 4 premiere averaged more than 1.1 million viewers, winning Sunday as the most-watched television program in Canada last night. With an increase of 31% over its Season 3 debut, it's the most-watched season premiere in HBO Canada's history and the most-watched broadcast on HBO Canada this broadcast year.

Last night's episode of GAME OF THRONES was also a dominant topic on social media, trending nationally on Twitter last night and into this morning, and trending on Facebook since yesterday afternoon.

For viewers who have yet to join the Realm, the first episode of Season 4 of GAME OF THRONES is available now on TMN GO, Shaw Go Movie Central app, Bell TV app, and Telus Optik on the go. Viewers can also watch a behind-the-scenes teaser entitled Game of Thrones: A Foreshadowing, available now on HBOCanada.com.

** Media Note ** - Download photos at bellmediaPR.ca/Network/HBO-Canada or http://mediacentre.corusent.com.

Premiering Sunday, April 13 at 9 p.m. ET/MT, the second episode of GAME OF THRONES Season Four finds Tyrion lending Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) a hand, while King Joffrey and Margaery host a celebratory breakfast. Meanwhile at Dragonstone, Stannis (Stephen Dillane) loses patience with Davos (Liam Cunningham) and Ramsay (Iwan Rheon) finds a purpose for his pet. North of the Wall, Bran (Isaac Hempstead Wright) sees where they now must go.

All new HBO programming premieres day-and-date with HBO in the U.S. The splendour of Westeros comes to Canada when HBO's GAME OF THRONES^®: The Exhibition returns to Toronto`s TIFF Bell Lightbox May 14 - 18 and premieres in Vancouver at the Pacific National Exhibition August 16 - September 1 (closed August 18 and 25).

HBO Canada is a multiplex channel of Bell Media's The Movie Network (Eastern Canada) and Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada).

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:

Twitter:
@themovienetwork
@TMN_Publicity
@moviecentral
@CorusPR
@HBO

Facebook:
/themovienetwork
/moviecentral

About HBO Canada:
HBO Canada brings Canadians HBO's current slate of signature dramatic and comedic programs, together with new and never-before-seen programming including comedy series, live specials, sporting events, behind-the-scenes content and titles from HBO's extensive library - all in an uncut and commercial-free environment. HBO Canada is offered in high definition on HBO Canada HD and programming is accessible on TMN GO and HBO Canada OnDemand. For more information, please visit www.hbocanada.com. In Eastern Canada, HBO Canada is a division of Bell Media, which is part of BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE), Canada's largest communications company. In Western Canada, HBO Canada is offered by Corus Entertainment's Movie Central (Western Canada).

About Movie Central:
Movie Central is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc. (CJR.B), a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.

- HBO Canada -

Source: BBM Canada, 4/6/14 Audiences prior to August 31, 2009 based on BBM Nielsen Media Research Mark II meters.

SOURCE: HBO CANADA

For The Movie Network (Eastern Canada)
Scott Campbell, 416.956.8648 or [email protected]

For Movie Central (Western Canada):
Owen McCorquodale, 416.479.6068 or [email protected]