Why 'Game of Thrones' is tv's most viral show

(THE WALL STREET JOURNAL) In May 2007, a few months after HBO optioned the rights to a book series byGeorge R.R. Martin,executive producersDavid BenioffandD.B. Weissjoined the author for a surprise appearance in the virtual community Second Life.

“Game of Thrones” wouldn’t hit the screen until four years later, but Second Life was a vital hangout for gamers, fantasy role-players and fans of Mr. Martin’s novels. The two producers appeared on screen as digital avatars in a forum moderated by one Beelzebubba Rasmuson and reassured fans that they would remain respectful of the beloved books.

“It’s really our goal just to make it as faithful as possible within the confines of the medium,” Mr. Weiss told them. The next year, they asked for casting suggestions on a website dedicated to Mr. Martin’s books,Westeros.org.

HBO started crafting a social-media strategy a year and a half before the show’s debut, assembling a team that has worked to expand the show’s viral reach ever since. HBO marketers found an ideal environment for stoking online activity: passionate and literate fans, a multitude of characters and allegiances and a distinct, complex world with its own rules.

Now, as season 6 of the series begins April 24, “Game of Thrones” is a ratings phenomenon: The show averaged 20.2 million viewers per episode in 2015 on all platforms in the U.S. Last year, in a rare scheduling move, HBO debuted each episode simultaneously in 173 countries, to battle piracy and ensure that real-time online chatter could begin immediately, from 6 p.m. Sunday in Los Angeles to 3 a.m. Monday in Johannesburg. The practice has since spread to other shows.

It is also a dominant presence in the kingdom of social media. HBO has a “community manager” who keeps tabs on every aspect of the show, including organized events such as red carpets and third-party reports about casting rumors. The channel works with selected fan sites, treating them like press organizations, granting them access to photos, videos and news announcements.

Last year “Thrones”was talked about on Facebook more than any other show. A recent survey by U.K. retailer Currys PC World reported that “Game of Thrones” wasthe most tweeted-about show globally in 2015. (Twitter wouldn’t verify this report.)

Thanks to the books, a network of bloggers grew up years before the show aired in 2011.Phil Bickinghad started a small site calledWinter is Comingin late 2008. Mr. Martin cited it on his own blog in December. Shortly after, someone sent Mr. Bicking a pilot script anonymously and he posted a summary. The traffic at Winter is Coming shot up sevenfold. “I can actually have an impact,” he says he realized at the time.

Reddit, the online bulletin board that had more than 82 billion page views last year, had more subscribers forits main “Game of Thrones” sectionthan for the National Football League, “Star Wars” or Marvel. On Tumblr, fans create animated GIFs of their favorite moments and share them immediately after the show. On YouTube, DIY videos abound for “Thrones” makeup and baking tips.

Online anticipation for this coming season of “Thrones” is especially feverish. From January 2016 through early April, the show has generated 83 million online engagements, an 89% increase over the same period last year, according to the research firm ListenFirst Media, which aggregates data over major online platforms.

No social-media numbers are cut-and-dried, mostly because every study has a different methodology and can use different search terms. Other shows, of course, also have avid online followings. The Freeform show “Pretty Little Liars,” with a huge teen base, is known for explosive Twitter chatter when it’s airing. “The Walking Dead” has an enormousTwitterandFacebook following, although its activity is concentrated during weeks when the show is airing—in both the fall and winter-spring seasons. By contrast, “Thrones,” which airs just 10 episodes a year, keeps ticking all year round: Less than one-third of its online engagements last year occurred during its actual 10-week run, according to ListenFirst.

“Thrones” shares traits with “Lost,” which aired on ABC from 2004 to 2010 and helped write the promotional playbook for social media.

“You had this rapidly expanding tool that allowed people to communicate,” saysCarlton Cuse,who was a “Lost” showrunner. “We were making this show that was very complex and intentionally ambiguous. It was the perfect thing for people to talk about and debate.”

Mr. Cuse, who now oversees “Bates Motel” on A&E and “The Strain” on FX, says networks and producers these days crave fan engagement more than ever before. And HBO, which doesn’t have to sell ads against sheer numbers of eyeballs, is less concerned with ratings than with keeping its brand buzzy and prestigious to feed new subscriptions.

“It doesn’t have to be a huge audience, just a fervent audience,” Mr. Cuse says.

One big reason why this season is of particular interest is that all five previous seasons have mostly tracked Mr. Martin’s books. Now the show enters uncharted territory, as fans impatiently await the author’s next installment,“The Winds of Winter.”The show’s writers have collaborated with Mr. Martin and have a rough idea of where his imagination is headed, but there is no assurance producers will hew to the plan. So viewers who haven’t read the books are on an equal footing with those who have, making everyone in both groups that much more opinionated. HBO is not sending out advanced copies of the show to media outlets, unlike in previous years.

Feeding the flames further is last season’s final scene, the murder of Jon Snow, a beloved character played by Kit Harington, revered for his swordplay, sensitivity and doe-like eyes. The Web is full ofspeculation that he may not be dead. The show has pulled Lazarus acts with at least one character before, but it also has shown no reluctance to kill off major characters. The frenzy has also been stirred by appearances, and nonappearances, by Mr. Harington, at one pointshowing up at Wimbledon last June with his Jon Snow haircutand whiskers. Apple has programmed its Siri voice feature to offer playfully ambiguous answers to the question, “Is Jon Snow dead?”

“It’s kind of a doubled-edged sword for us,” saysJoseph Coleman,who tweets under the handle@LordSnow. “It’s easy knowing what’s coming, but there’s more excitement coming with not knowing.”

In November, HBO’s marketing team lobbed a viral bomb to stir up the conversation about the character. The show’s official Twitter accounttweeted an image of a bloodied Jon Snowaccompanied by text that read, “APRIL. #GoTSeason6 #GameOfThrones.” The tweet, which generated about 76,000 retweets and 59,000 favorites, gave the show its biggest day on Twitter since the season 5 finale, according toSabrina Caluori,who oversees HBO’s social-strategy team as senior vice president of digital media and marketing.

Then,a February teaser videothat featured the death masks of characters both living and dead racked up about 93 million total views across a variety of online platforms as of early April, a record for HBO videos. The full trailer for “Thrones” season 6, which debuted March 8, andJohn Oliver’s Feb. 28 rant onDonald Trumpare close behind.

Mr. Coleman, a 24-year-old assistant hotel manager in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, is a fan who has been taken into the fold. He now sends his tweets in partnership with HBO. He is one of the “official” tweeters tapped to participate in a “live-tweeting stunt” called #GoT50, as the network rebroadcasts the first 50 episodes leading up to this year’s premiere. Three popular accounts also selected were@GOT_Tyrion,@Daenerysand@NiceQueenCersei, named after characters played by Peter Dinklage, Emilia Clarke and Lena Headey.

Some of the official tweeters coordinate with each other as they craft jokes and memes and try make their tweets stand out with their own styles, including text fonts.

The network picked these particular fan accounts because of their loyalty to the show as well as their traffic numbers. The people behind the accounts aren’t paid, but HBO supports and promotes them with retweets, says HBO’s Ms. Caluori.

“Giving them that honor to be an official person to live-tweet those episodes is the reward,” she says.

“Glad to help rally the realm!”Eric Charlton(@Daenerys) tweeted on his much-smaller personal account, which also discusses sports teams in Buffalo, N.Y.

HBO works with sites for giveaways and contests and provides teaser videos to sites such asWinter is ComingandWatchers on the Wall. On Monday, those two sites received three brief clips from the new season.

HBO also blends physical and virtual promotion. Models of the “Iron Throne” from the show have toured the country so fans could pose and take pictures sitting on the famous chair. Replicas of the throne are sold as bookends, stocking holders and construction kits for those who want to make their own. The death masks from the “Hall of Faces” were an installation at the South by Southwest conference this year: Fans posed to put their likenesses on interactive videos. Fans can also create death masks on an HBO website.

Not every viral social-media moment is planned. Back when Messrs. Benioff and Weiss asked online fans for casting suggestions, a name that came up was actorIan McShane,then fresh off his starring role in HBO’s “Deadwood.”

Up until now, the actor hadn’t appeared on the show, but he will take on an unknown role this season. Last month, Mr. McShane appeared to hint that he might somehow be involved with the Jon Snow character—a possible spoiler.

The Web went wild, andMr. McShane later told the Telegraph last month, “You say the slightest thing and the Internet goes ape....I just think get a f---ing life. It’s only t--s and dragons.

His comments went viral.