'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Premiere Caused Drop in Pornhub Traffic
When "Game of Thrones" is on, fans don't have time for anything else ... including watching porn.
Pornhub Insights, the team responsible for research and analysis at the popular pornographic website, shared new data Tuesday, revealing that traffic was down during the "Game of Thrones" Season 7 premiere on Sunday, July 16. Across the United States, the website saw its traffic fall by 4.5 percent while the show was airing. The change was described as "considerable," especially given that Sunday night is usually one of the site's most popular times.
The data came with a graph illustrating the drop in traffic.
Such drops on "Game of Thrones" nights aren't uncommon; Pornhub data shows that there tended to be a dip in traffic on Sundays throughout Season 6 whenever the show was airing. However, the size varied. Following a drop of 4.1 percent on premiere night, subsequent nights tended to be less affected. The notable exceptions were Episodes 4 and 10, with the latter being the finale. Those nights saw traffic fall by 4.9 and 5.2 percent, respectively.
The numbers might not sound huge, but considering that many "Game of Thrones" viewers don't necessarily watch new episodes while they air, the data is noteworthy. It looks like it you want to get people to stop watching porn (if only temporarily), you just have to get them hooked on "Game of Thrones." It might not be such a difficult transition, either -- after all, the show has tons of nudity.
"Game of Thrones" airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on HBO.