"Game of Thrones" Season 6 chose violence, reunions, revivals, fire, blood, and punching Ramsay Bolton in the face -- 21 times -- and it all paid off.

When fans can actually watch the show (crashed HBO Now from excessive demand.

Here's more of the breakdown, from USA Today:

"Sunday premiere ratings are up 6%, to 7.3 million, while overall TV and on-demand viewership is up 4%. But viewing on HBO Now and HBO Go digital platforms skyrocketed 70% over last season, to about 2.5 million streams, reflecting growth in HBO Now subscriptions since the app's launch in April 2015.

[...] HBO says HBO Now had 800,000 subscribers as of Jan. 1, a figure that has presumably climbed since then. [...] The lesson? Contrary to fears in some circles, HBO Now "doesn't cannibalize anything on the (TV) network," says CEO Richard Plepler. "It simply expands the audience's opportunity to watch our programs. It's all about expanding the pie."

Pie, eh? Get ready to dig in this Sunday, June 26 for the just about ready to start filming, and is rumored to have only seven episodes.

And what do we say to more HBO Now crashes? Not today!

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