News

New HBO show pushes ‘Game of Thrones’ season 6 premiere back

Posted on by Petra

joffrey

HBO has announced that the first episode of its new series, Vinyl, will air on February 14, throwing the premiere date for Game of Thrones season 6 into question.

The official HBO press release states that the first season of Vinyl, which will feature Game of Thrones actor (and WOTW Award winner) Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, will fill HBO’s Sunday 9 PM time slot from February 14 to April 17th.

HBO has confirmed the February 2016 debut dates for the new series VINYL and the new seasons of the returning series GIRLS and TOGETHERNESS.

VINYL kicks off its ten-episode season with a two-hour premiere, directed by Martin Scorsese, on SUNDAY, FEB. 14(9:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT).

This time conflict pushes the start of the new Game of Thrones season later into the year than  ever before. With the exception of season 3, which began in March, Game of Thrones has always premiered in early to mid April. At the earliest, episode 1 will air on April 24. However, HBO often leaves an empty week between its shows’ finales and and premieres. So, it’s quite possible that season 6 won’t begin until May.

Hopefully, Vinyl will benefit from its coveted time slot and find an audience and Game of Thrones season 6 will be worth the wait. Nonetheless, it’s a bummer that this new scheduling makes the wait for the next Game of Thrones episode, alas, even longer.

script async src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js">
, ,
Petra

224 Comments

  2. BUT this gives them more time to spit-polish season 6. I hate waiting. I really, really hate waiting. But sometimes it’s worth it.

  8. Nooooooo-dor!

    I wonder if this means they can spend a little more time filming this year with the extra time.

  9. I’m actually looking forward to Vinyl, but I really don’t wanna wait any longer for GOT. This blows!

  14. this is good news/bad news for me….bad because it means have to wait longer for the awesomeness season 6 is looking to be..

    good news is that we may still get TWoW before season 6 airs ..and I would be happier being “spoiled” by the original then an adaption(however well done)

  15. This is the worst news possible for me…..
    I knew something bad would happen, all this great news coming out. didn’t even think about the bed news.
    looking forward to Vinyl though.

  16. The caption photo for this story is funny as hell, thanks for the laugh to accompany my disappointment.

    Alex G:
    Maybe they are giving time for Winds to come out

    This was the first thing I thought of/hoped as well. Que the, “sweet summer child” you must be new to GRRM’s writing pace, comments

  17. Oh my gosh, no!! Winter is already gonna be very long, now longer still. I do love the show, so I will wait, but I am so ready for it.

  18. This might be done to give Winds of Winter some space. Hopefully!

    Update: Cool, I see a few a people hoping for the same thing!

  20. Good. In May and June I usually have a lot of exams and I can’t see or discuss the series as much as would like. If they show them in summer, I’ll enjoy them more.

  22. How can Vinyl have a two hour premiere, but Game of Thrones, one of if not the biggest show currently on TV, can’t? 🙁

  23. Sort of knew it would be a later start than normal when the DVD was announced for mid-March instead of the usual February. The DVD is usually released about 6 weeks before the new season begins.

  26. I don’t know why Vinyl, Girls, and Togetherness are premiering so late this year – maybe HBO has some yet-to-be-announced miniseries that they’ll be running in January instead? But I feel pretty confident that they’re not pushing back the debut of Season 6 so GRRM can have more release his book. They wouldn’t be delaying their entire normal schedule January schedule until February just for that.

    HBO’s press release doesn’t make it clear whether or not the two-hour premiere of Vinyl are actually two episodes that are running back to back, or if it’s one super-sized episode. If it’s the former, then Vinyl’s ten-episode season would conclude on April 10th, and Game of Thrones could possibly premiere on April 17th. If it’s the latter, then yes, April 24th is the earliest that Season 6 could debut.

    One factor to keep in mind: in order to be eligible for the 2016 Emmys, Game of Thrones needs to air at least 6 of its 10 episodes before the eligibility cutoff on May 31, 2016. Otherwise, the entire season would be ineligible and have to compete at the 2017 ceremony. After Game of Thrones won its first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series this year, you can bet that HBO will want to ensure that it can return to defend its title. So I wouldn’t worry about the premiere getting pushed until May. Season 6 will debut on April 24 at the latest.

  27. Good. More time for production. Hopefully the production crew knew about this when they started prepping for season 6. I wish they had much more time to prepare each season, but I realize it wouldn’t be realistic to have an extra 6 months to produce each season, but I think it would be much better if they did.

  28. Queenie,

    Let me just say I would be very surprised if that happens to be true. Not because tWoW couldn’t be out around this time (I don’t think so, but who knows…). but there is no reason for HBO to wait for the book.

  29. honestly i’m more mad i have to wait another month for togetherness at this point than game of thrones. gives them more time to polish the season and most importantly, more time for winds to come out

  30. I doubt HBO is delaying their cash cow just so GRRM can publish a book they won’t make money off of.

    I think it is because this season sounds like it is going to be bigger and more effects heavy than before. They’ll want the time to get everything perfect, and weren’t there rumors at one point of filming going through mid-January, maybe?

  31. In agreement with everyone else….bummed show will premier so late, BUT this pretty much confirms (in my mind) that GRRM will release that damn sixth book before April 24th 🙂 Hodor!

  32. Jared,

    Thank you for Clearing that up, I also was worrying about the Emmy Awards and if they could be eligible if they started to late.

  33. It’s going to be an awesome show and I love scorcesse’s work.
    I don’t care if it mean that s6 will be delayed.

  35. Abyss,

    I highly doubt they would delay the show to give Martin more time.

    HBO would loose money by delaying it, and we have too remenber, this is a business above everything else, making money is the most important aspect of this.
    Also, I highly doubt that the writers have a say when the show airs.
    After the filming and editing is done, they choose a suitable date and start the marketing.

    I’m skeptical that TWOW will come out in 2016, even more skeptical that it comes out before S6. But even if it came, I don’t think that HBO would agree to any delays. Hell especially to delay it until after the book comes out, that would mean they will lose some viewers, wich makes no sanse from a business perspective.

  36. Long time lurker, first time poster. ?

    Joined just to say: Well that sucks. Just as I thought we had less than 6 months to go, we’re back to 6+ months. ?

  37. The shift is happening because GOT won’t be ready the first week in April. Vinyl and Togetherness have nothing to do with it. They aimed high with the Bastard Battle and got delayed two weeks. No big deal, though.

  38. Jared: So I wouldn’t worry about the premiere getting pushed until May. Season 6 will debut on April 24 at the latest.

    Agreed. I would also think HBO would try to avoid airing a new episode of GoT on Memorial Weekend Sunday, so to get the 6 episodes in for the deadline, I believe April 17 would be more like it! Finishing on the last Sunday of June.

  39. wanderer,

    While I don’t belive this, it’s a perfectly fine speculation.

    But not based on GOTs airing date, it simply makes no sanse.
    This is no longer to D&D left to decide, but it gets passed to the marketing juggernaut.
    Whose only worry/job is to hype the season and bring in money.
    Realesing the season after the book is a simply not good at maximazing profits.

  42. That’s so lame!

    GoT has always came right at Spring, the new beautiful weather with family cookouts and watching GoT always went hand in hand.

    This sucks IMO…

  43. Didn’t they release the second season of True Detective in summer? Since it doesn’t look like TD will get a third season, GoT could be its replacement. Plus, in summer they’ll have less competition.

  44. A weak or two later is not something too get too worried/angry about, in my opinion.

    I’m preaty confident it will air in April.

  48. Alex G: Maybe they are giving time for Winds to come out

    Giving GRRM another month is sort of like giving someone who needs thousands of dollars the loose change in your sofa.

  49. Great! This means I can enjoy Bobby Cannavale’s overacting in all of its sweaty, hammy glory!

  50. More time won’t hurt the show. For example, Sand Snake choreography could have been helped if the editors had time to step away from it, look at it, realize they’d made Xena.

    To quote Shigeru Miyamoto: “A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.”

  51. The Tattered Prince,

    There’s no chance that Game of Thrones will be delayed until the summer. It’s well-established as a spring show, and has been for the past five seasons. The ratings are sky-high. There’s no reason for it to move – if anything, other shows should be trying to schedule around it. Furthermore, if they push it to summer, the show would be ineligible for the 2016 Emmys, and forfeit its chance to defend its Outstanding Drama Series win. For a premium cable network like HBO that places major emphasis on awards and prestige, that’s an important factor to consider.

    True Detective’s summer slot will likely go to HBO’s other new show, Westworld, which has been mired in development hell for a while.

  54. Mihnea,

    You think that by reading the book, viewers will be satisfied enough to leave the show alone? If anything, the buzz of the book release will spark even more interest in the series/show. Its how marketing works.

  57. Felt Pelt,

    I doubt the delay has anything to do with the filming.

    Also the SS fight isn’t a good example, they got only 1 weak to film in the Alcazar, they could have realized/noticed it was not that good, and they still could do nothing at that point.

    My point is that this delay will not make S6 better, don’t think they will get more filming time or even editing to be honest. This delay looks to me one based on marketing decisions.

  58. Mihnea,

    “Realesing the season after the book is a simply not good at maximazing profits.”

    Well thats like predicting that moviegoers wouldnt flock to Harry Potter or Twilight fans if they had a copy of the book first. 😉

  59. wanderer,

    Not really, the S6 realese will have more buzz then TWOW will ever dream of having.
    Sure book-readers would be happy/glad, but there won’t be more buzz thanks to the book then it is otherwise.

    There won’t be people who read the book and say: ”oh yeah, there is a show after this, let’s give it a try”
    The book, the 6th in the series, will not bring more viewers at all.

    If anything it would be the other way around, the book getting more readers thanks to the show.

  61. My question is the delay won’t effect its chance for the emmys that year right ? pretty small worry I know, but still.

  62. wanderer,

    This is exactly why they won’t delay it, for the book.

    You can freely speculate when TWOW will come out, but I think it’s ridiculous to think that HBO would delay it, just to give Martin 2 more weaks.
    This is a business, not a familly. They don’t care about TWOW at all.

    The books realese is a event inside the fandom.
    It won’t bring HBO any viewers.
    If anything, like I said, it will be the book who will get more readers thanks to the show.

  64. Mihnea:
    Felt Pelt,

    I doubt the delay has anything to do with the filming.

    Also the SS fight isn’t a good example, they got only 1 weak to film in the Alcazar, they could have realized/noticed it was not that good, and they still could do nothing at that point.

    My point is that this delay will not make S6 better, don’t think they will get more filming time or even editing to be honest. This delay looks to me one based on marketing decisions.

    I disagree, I think if they get more time to edit they’re more likely to edit out bad fight choreography. And I didn’t mean filming was slowing them down, just that this might give them more time to edit. You’re right, they may still deliver the season at the same time, or leaving in cringey stuff may not have to do with being rushed.

  68. Felt Pelt,

    ”Cringey” is purely subjective, half of the scenes/seasons are cringey, just depands on who you ask. So no, I doubt they would have changed something even if they have 1-2 weaks more time. But even this:
    Do we know that this 2 weaks delay would mean more filming? Or more editing?
    They could very well finish like usuall and this delay be purely a decision from the ”higher-ups”.

    Well I agree on only 1 point, maybe editing, but even here I doubt it. They have most likely set dates when editing must finish. I don’t think they would put more money in editing if it gets delayed, they would sooner put it in marketing.

    P.S.: I’m not looking for a Dorne debate, not again, the only thing I argue is that 1-2 weaks delay in airing, does not mean they get 1-2 weaks more of filming/editing.

  71. This Pisses me off, I just hope that this would give martin more ( yeah right) to get the book out. But, GOT is CROWN in HBO entire lineup. Nothing & No show ever should mess with GOT airing. Everything else should be secondary, all shows should be moved around so Thrones has is spot each & every year. & If true about holding shows over a week when 1 ends before the next could start, WTF WHY???? Oh well. From what I have been reading about the spoilers( if they could be true or not). We will be getting more book material.

  72. Given that Benioff and Weiss have repeatedly pointed out they have a 212 day a year shooting schedule, physically can’t produce more episodes a year, I’m in favor of taking more time to get it right.

    I mean, imagine if in Season 5 they said, “you know, 2 to 3 more weeks of filming or just editing would drastically improve the Dorne storyline”.

  74. Mihnea:
    Felt Pelt,

    ”Cringey” is purely subjective, half of the scenes/seasons are cringey, just depands on who you ask. So no, I doubt they would have changed something even if they have 1-2 weaks more time. But even this:
    Do we know that this 2 weaks delay would mean more filming? Or more editing?
    They could very well finish like usuall and this delay be purely a decision from the ”higher-ups”.

    Well I agree on only 1 point, maybe editing, but even here I doubt it. They have most likely set dates when editing must finish. I don’t think they would put more money in editing if it gets delayed, they would sooner put it in marketing.

    P.S.: I’m not looking for a Dorne debate, not again, the only thing I argue is that 1-2 weaks delay in airing, does not mean they get 1-2 weaks more of filming/editing.

    Good points. You’re right, there’s probably a set budget for editing and they would need more money to pay the editors beyond it.

    I too want no more Dorne debates. Although what’s cringeworthy is subjective, the majority here seemed to find that SS fight bad, and it’s my favorite armchair quarterback preoccupation: let me in the editing chair, let me make the show better.

    No one’s going to do that. I do think that if the show had a longer gestation time, it might be better. Some of the things that don’t work seem to be the result of a rushed schedule.

  76. Arthur,

    yes!!!
    Love ragnar and love lagertha even more..
    and I love brienne but im sure she can take her. Size don’t matter! Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) has a third degree black belt in taekwando and 2nd degree black belt in Karate!!!!!!!!!
    Im a kickboxer and I feel like I can take anyone, so imagine lagertha!

    Anyway, OT: but did you hear that the season 4 was going to be super long also?

  77. Felt Pelt,

    Every show/movie/video game,..etc Would be better with more time given.

    But at one point your higher-ups, who give you the money will start pressing you too finish.
    And they don’t make decisions based on how good a story is or how much more time Dorne would need. They want to make money, especially after they gave you millions for filming. They have entire departaments who they need to put too work, like marketing for example.

    Also HBO has other shows it needs to film/hype,..etc. Delay GOT 2 month, wich would be in my enough time to redo scenes/stories, and you completly ruin your schelduefor the entire year.
    So they will eventually demand that you give them the product you promised and wich they paid for…and you can’t do much when this happens.

    And even if you tell them to give you 1 more month for filming a story better. This here is a cost-benefit scenario, is it worth to put more money, delay all our other shows to get a better 5-7 mins story in Dorne?
    The fans would say yes. Of course we want better story.
    But those in charge wouldn’t care so much, a 5-8 mins story doesn’t matter much to them.
    It won’t bring enough money to warrant all the hassle and risk of loosing money with a delay.

  82. I’ve said this before: Don’t be surprised if Season 6 is pushed back until September. I have no inside information here, but The Leftovers has been a ratings dead zone for HBO this season (and I don’t blame the show for that- I happen to think it’s tremendous, just not something that HBO should be building it’s Sunday prime-time lineup around during fall sweeps) and they have nothing else in the pipeline that can be their flagship show during a crucial ratings period. I’m calling it now: HBO will fill May with a miniseries similar to The Jinx or Show Me a Hero, Westworld will fill the summer spot that True Detective had last year, and GoT will start up after Labor Day. Don’t shoot the messenger…

  86. Matthew The Dragon knight,

    This year the accepted entries were from June 1, 2014 – May 31, 2015.

    Yet Mother’s Mercy won and it aired on June 14th. So due to the “hanging episode” eligibility, GOT would still qualify for the episodes that air after the cut off date.

    Exact wording from Emmy rules: If an ongoing series has enough episodes in the current eligibility year to qualify as a series and has one or more episodes that are part of the series season that fall into the subsequent eligibility year, the “hanging episodes” that are in a contiguous rollout on the same distribution platform join in eligibility the already-qualified-as-eligible episodes of the series.

  87. Is the premier of Vinyl two hours long, which is basically the first two episodes? So that means that the show will actually end on April 10th so GOT will probably return on April 24th (unless they decide not to have a weeks break between the two which means it will return on April 17th)

  88. Mihnea,

    “And they don’t make decisions based on how good a story is or how much more time Dorne would need. They want to make money, especially after they gave you millions for filming. ”

    Depends on the studio. Things are done a bit different at Paramount than they are at Fox Searchlight. AMC has different philosophy than CBS. Thus unless you have personally worked in the entertainment industry and have friends at VARIOUS studios, not sure how you can make that claim. Yeah, its an easy assumption: studio only wants to make money, they dont care about much elese. But its an erroneous comment to make unless you have actually been around the creative/marketing process of a tv series or movie.

  89. wanderer,

    Good that’s music to my ears, so if they have enough episode it will be eligible. good, i’m Sure Hbo had this in mind when they pushed the premier date for the first episode. It would be a shame if Game of Thrones was left out of the awards after winning best drama the year before. Season 6 is looking really good, so i’ll be happy if it makes the date.

  91. Deesensfan,

    No I didn’t hear that but I would love it.

    I am behind, ever since season 1 of Vikings I have refused to watch it live on TV. I cannot stand commercial television, waste of time!

    So I wait until the Blu-ray comes out, which is also rated R and has more blood, guts and nudity (like GoT lol).

    I have the season 3 Blu-ray on my TV stand just waiting for me, will binge watch it soon.

    But I have always loved Vikings!

  92. Matthew The Dragon knight,

    Right? Honestly, despite knowing about the rule, I still paused to think about the number of episodes it would need to air before the cut off at end of May.

    If it airs on April 17th, then its 7 episodes pre cut off, 3 after (still majority). If it airs on April 24th, thats 6/4. Soooo…April 24th is the latest possibility for the premier 🙂

  94. LMAO at the pic used for this piece.

    That show Vinyl looks to be OK, but now that it’s fkn with my GoT premier, I think it sucks, lol.

  95. jentario,

    I don’t believe they will push the trailer back. The trailer will release towards the end of January like always, and if they show the last two episodes of season 5 in IMAX like last year, There is a big Chance they will premiere the season 6 trailer there.

  96. wanderer,

    Here’s hoping, can’t wait for the First trailer the premier. I know its just the trailer, but it helps with the wait for season 6, watching the trailer multiple times and analyzing every second of it is pretty fun.

  97. During the long wait, watch the new BBC series, “The Last Kingdom”. It is really, really good!

  98. The scheduling has nothing to do with anything but SWEEPS. American television lives and dies on the on the ratings achieved during the SWEEPS months of November, February, and May. All advertising revenue is based the results of these SWEEPS.

    HBO obviously thinks VINYL’s debut is strong enough to premier it during February SWEEPS.

    The same is true for Game of Thrones. HBO probably believes that the 6th season premiere and/or the early episodes are strong enough for the May SWEEPS.

    And, while HBO obviously does not sell advertising time. It DOES use the ratings to bolster its marketability and increase its revenue.

    I take this as an indication of the quality we can look forward to this season. This is a good thing . . . a VERY good thing.

  99. “Winter is Coming. Later. In the spring. Maybe the summer. When it’s so cold that…er…when you’re in the Cape…eating fried fish….uhh…”

    “Hey, Oscar! C’mere! We gotta do something with the marketing!”

  100. jentario,

    Don’t think they will push the trailer.
    I myself am still not convinced this delay means 2 more weaks of filming.
    But the trailer will be, for me at least the proof, if the trailer isn’t delayed then most likely this delay is purely from HBO.
    If the trailer is delayed then yes we can suspect the delay may have production causes.

  101. I definitely don’t believe HBO would delay the season start so that TWOW could be published beforehand. Might it be to better negotiate the NBA playoffs/holidays/etc? Most likely though it’s just a scheduling decision without any ulterior reason.

    Laura:
    I’d love it if they pushed season 7 to fall/winter 2017/18 and gave it an extra 2 eps. It’s a winter show.

    I hate you for even suggesting such a delay, but upon reflection I have to agree with you…

  104. Tar Kidho,

    Please don’t bring politics in the discussion,especially american ones. My twitter feed has been filled with that the last couple of months and i want to at least take a break here and not hear anything from it .

  105. Jared: So I wouldn’t worry about the premiere getting pushed until May. Season 6 will debut on April 24 at the latest.

    Jared, you can always be counted on to make sense of chaos. A rare, valuable and happy talent to have, my boy. Thank you for your calm assessment.

    But as for me, struggling to remain calm … ….CRAP. I rented “Testament of Youth” on my On Demand cable station the other night, just to see Kit’s sweet young face and hear his voice. It was worth it, even though … well, I won’t spoil the fucking ending for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. Thought he was great in it. Clue: it was a three hanky movie for me. grumble grumble ….

    So, now that we have to wait a few weeks longer, does anyone remember at about which date of last year announcements were made about the episodes on IMAX in the theaters? Wasn’t at about this time, the beginning of November? and they ran near Thanksgiving or a little after. That was fun for me, I hope they do it this year. That would make the time go a little faster, seeing some episodes on the big screen again. Sue? any idea or memory of how it went down last year?

  107. Vinyl looks fantastic, hopefully that and Westworld are able to put HBO back on the map, because lately, aside from their comedy side the quality has took a drastic dip recently.

    Also, we all know the real reason GOT S6 has been pushed back, a certain novel is getting ready to drop 😉

  109. Jared: One factor to keep in mind: in order to be eligible for the 2016 Emmys, Game of Thrones needs to air at least 6 of its 10 episodes before the eligibility cutoff on May 31, 2016. Otherwise, the entire season would be ineligible and have to compete at the 2017 ceremony. After Game of Thrones won its first-ever Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series this year, you can bet that HBO will want to ensure that it can return to defend its title. So I wouldn’t worry about the premiere getting pushed until May. Season 6 will debut on April 24 at the latest.

    It is known

  111. Wilshade,

    Sweeps are completely irrelevant. The purpose of sweeps is to establish advertising rates based upon show ratings. HBO is a premium channel. It does not have commercials.

  114. Is it a certainty that Season 6 is getting pushed back a couple of weeks? Just because HBO is putting Vinyl in the Sunday, 9pm time slot doesn’t mean they can’t put in Season 6 at 10 pm the same night. This scheduling would draw a big audience to Vinyl. You know, turn it on and watch while we wait for GOT to come on and generate some fans, especially some of those rabid GOT fans. LOL Just a thought.

  115. Strangely enough, I don’t even mind that much. What is two more weeks after we’ve waited ten months? 🙂

  116. Wimsey: Giving GRRM another month is sort of like giving someone who needs thousands of dollars the loose change in your sofa.

    You win the thread.

    Also, I feel like this change could have been made to give more time to D&D. As someone upthread pointed out, GOT is the jewel in the HBO crown, so if they needed the extra week or two, HBO most certainly would re-jig their lineup to accommodate them. Need 8 seasons? Done. Need Mark Gatiss for a bit-part? Done. Need a month to film a CGI-heavy sequence, costing bucket loads of dough? Done. Need an extra two weeks to prep? That’s pie, folks.

  120. Guys,

    Here’s a sad (for some) thought. What if it’s not the book but instead a planned cancellation of the Leftovers? That’ll leave a big gap in fall programming, so they might be pushing GOT back to cover summer and then have Westwood / True Detective (no particular order) come in afterwards to see HBO through summer and fall.

    So the schedule would be

    5/1 GOT
    7/3 Westwood / True Detective
    9/4 or 9/11 True Detective

    and no Leftovers.

  122. Pointy End,

    lol its not getting pushed back that far lol
    we don’t even know when It will premier, besides can’t they just move Vinyel to 10 when game of thrones comes out ?

  123. I’m not happy about this news. To register my disappointment, I will not be tuning into “Vinyl”.

  127. I am a long time lurker. This is my first time posting.
    This makes me sad. I have only recently read the books. I was a “show only” person. This news bites.

  128. Al Swearengen:
    Vinyl looks fantastic, hopefully that and Westworld are able to put HBO back on the map, because lately, aside from their comedy side the quality has took a drastic dip recently.

    Haven’t looked into Vinyl or Westworld yet (though now I certainly will). However, I’d point to The Leftovers and True Detective (Season 1 at least, not watched Season 2) as evidence to the contrary of what you claim to be a “drastic dip.” If you haven’t heard of the former, it’s based on a novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta, and the show was created by him and Damon Lindelof (of LOST fame). I know that last bit might not be a ringing endorsement to some, but I loved LOST all the way thru and think a decent part of the fandom misinterpreted the “flash-sideways” of its Season 6.

  131. May 1st, damn, GoT will run into July, with the July 4th weekend aligned with a 10th episode, HBO will definitely delay 10 till July 10th, has a nice ring. Well look at the bright side, it will be Winter down under during the airing of season 6.

  132. Matthew The Dragon knight:
    This is the worst news possible for me…..
    I knew something bad would happen, all this great news coming out. didn’t even think about the bad news.
    looking forward to Vinyl though.

    WHO DIED???

    WAIT, NOBODY?

  134. William:
    How can Vinyl have a two hour premiere, but Game of Thrones, one of if not the biggest show currently on TV, can’t?

    Can only produce 10 hours of content basically meaning they would have to do a two-hour Premier and 9 episodes

    Personally I am happy at keeping it at 10 episodes, keeps the pace moving but most importantly because it ensures the standard of quality, if they moved to more episodes quality control would drop

    Can see it the other way, eg South park since going from 16 episodes or so(?) per season to 10 has seen the quality improve substantially

  135. Uuuuuuuuuuugh! Just when I thought the show was getting closer to start…now THIS? Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh…siiiiiiiigh. IDC how good another show looks NOTHING is going to compare to GoT…. so not happy right now!!! I have a completely different thought process on the REASON they are delaying the season… they are going to have to change scenes bc of all the WoTW spoilers …. lol!! JK

  137. Well… that kinda sucks.

    On the other hand, Vinyl might be a fantastic show and could actually make the wait for GoT slightly less painful overall since we’ll have an entertaining new show to tide us over until the premiere.

  138. Walker White,

    I watch The Leftovers and I refute your claim that it’s a quality show. Season 1 was such a mess they had to basically reboot the show in Season 2.

    HBO hasn’t been consistently pumping out quality drama for a while now. They’ve been really struggling because other networks now have the resources and means to compete with them. And HBO only have themselves to blame considering they’ve passed on a lot of high profile shows I.E Mad Men.

    Don’t get me wrong though, HBO is still a classy network, but they don’t dominate the landscape like they use to, despite what the EMMY’s may seem to think.

    Oh and if I were you, I’d skip season 2 of True Detective. It was a massive disappointment and doesn’t come close to the greatness of S1.

  140. “However, HBO often leaves an empty week between its shows’ finales and and premieres. So, it’s quite possible that season 6 won’t begin until May”

    Unless the Emmy’s change their cut off date, I doubt GOT will premier in May. It would mean they no longer have a majority of episodes pre May 31st. (OR maybe 5 out of 10 counts as a majority in Hollywood, math isnt their strong suit LOL)

  141. GeekFurious:
    Sweet. Giving GRRM an extra month to finish TWOW!

    Where are you getting a month from? The article is wrong they don’t wait an extra week from finale to premiere. They didn’t this year with GoT and TD or last year. Vinyl will end 4/17 and GoT will premiere 4/24 or it is ineligible for the 2016 Emmy’s. They definitely thought this through with scheduling. 4/24 mark it down.

    And an extra 12 days (Season 5 premeired 4/12) will not help George get Winds out in time. Stop being silly.

  142. Al Swearengen,

    It’s a shame about Season 2 of TD. The show had a lot of potential.

    TV is not particularly interesting at the moment (not to me at least) in general. There are still some entertaining shows out there, but nothing that really pulls me in quite like GoT.

  145. Abyss,

    They plan to have a relationship with Martin after GoT, so it benefits them to keep him happy. He may very well have asked for this and there’s no sense in upsetting him.

  147. Ravyn:
    Abyss,

    They plan to have a relationship with Martin after GoT, so it benefits them to keep him happy. He may very well have asked for this and there’s no sense in upsetting him.

    They’re keeping GRRM happy by giving him lots of money.

  148. Won’t have been a direct influence but if a bonus of it is TWoW comes out before the show then that would be swell!

    A wise decision I think. I got the sense some stuff last season seemed rushed and badly edited (Dorne above all else). Hopefully more time will allow for less of that kind of thing.

  149. MMM your tears are delicious, GoT fans. If you can wait 40 weeks, whats another two or three? It gives the show more time to really crank out a phenomenal season after that slow burner we had to endure in S5. I could see HBO waiting until June to release it, around the time GoT usually ends, and just have it carry them through the summer the way Ballers did this year.

  150. LOL do people actually believe this delay (one or two weeks tops) might have something to do with TWOW, instead of it just being a scheduling issue? The dude has had 5 years to release the book, two weeks won’t make a change, try a few more months at minimum… There’s some chance book 6 will see the light of day next year but to think it will happen within the first quarter is stretching it.

  151. Nate,

    As of now, there’s been no confirmation that there will be a third season of True Detective. Probably because everyone has been shitting on season 2, even though it was way better than the first season.

  153. Al Swearengen: I watch The Leftovers and I refute your claim that it’s a quality show. Season 1 was such a mess they had to basically reboot the show in Season 2.

    The Leftovers is a bizarrely under-appreciated show. I thought S1 was brilliantly riveting, layers and layers of borderline insanity. S2 did not reboot the story, only relocated it. Sundays are so damn interesting on HBO.

    I’m with Arthur. I don’t like pushing the GoT season opener away from the spring vernal equinox. Don’t mess with a good thing.

  154. Deesensfan: Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) has a third degree black belt in taekwando and 2nd degree black belt in Karate!!!!!!!!!

    I knew she held her 3rd Dan in tkd (I just earned my 3rd Dan in tkd a few months ago), but I didn’t know she also held a second degree black belt in Karate. Nice!

    It’s also very cool you’re a kickboxer!

    On topic – I’d rather not have to wait any longer than I already have to for GoT, but I’m certainly looking forward to seeing Vinyl.

  156. As long as the season is as good as the last 5, I could care less if it is delayed by a month or two. Quality is all that matters.

  157. If you miss Game of Thrones, just find the crappiest episode of Xena: Warrior Princess and loop it for six months. Problem solved.

  159. no one:
    If you miss Game of Thrones, just find the crappiest episode of Xena: Warrior Princess and loop it for six months. Problem solved.

    Look, we got ourself a troll.

  161. Deesensfan,

    I had not heard that, but … Yay! That’s a fun show.

    Nymeria Warrior Queen,

    Wow! You kick a$$ literally AND figuratively! 😉

    My first reaction to this was, “WHAAAAT?!?” but, thanks to all of you good folks, I feel great about this news. More time to edit, more time to create VFX, more time to finish shows that used to conflict with GoT, time to appreciate new shows on HBO, more time for WoW to drop, more time to see more episodes in IMAX. It even brought some trolls out of the woodwork so that they can be ignored. 😉 Whatever comes of this “delay” can only be beneficial. I say, “Bully!” to this news!

  162. Wimsey: Giving GRRM another month is sort of like giving someone who needs thousands of dollars the loose change in your sofa.

    Truest statement on this thread.

  166. I see cooler heads have prevailed and figured out that GoT has to premiere before May in order to be eligible for next year’s Emmys. PHEW. Yeah, no way HBO would be okay missing out on awards season for its cash cow.

    So, if April 24th is the new premiere date, that’s only 2 weeks later than this year’s premiere. Not too bad, I suppose. I may be a twitchy mess by then but I think I can make it.

  167. I hope Vinyl tanks like the piece of shit show it almost assuredly is. I hope you’re happy hipsters! You’ve officially taken everything from me!

  168. Deesensfan: Katheryn Winnick (Lagertha) has a third degree black belt in taekwando and 2nd degree black belt in Karate!!!!!!!!!

    I’ve been secretely in love with Lagertha/Katheryn from her very first scene in Vikings, and this only makes it worse. In all but complexion, she’s the ultimate Sand Snake!

  169. BunBunStark: I see cooler heads have prevailed and figured out that GoT has to premiere before May in order to be eligible for next year’s Emmys.

    Moreover, this also brings the finale one week ahead of Independance Day weekend.

  170. It seems to me that that isn’t that much later than last years. And Vinyl might be great. But as it is I won’t subscribe to HBO – I wait until the show comes out on Amazon or DVD. For every one show I want to watch that’s high rated ( like Game of Thrones) they put on two that they insist on propping up despite low ratings (like the awful Girls, which has a viewership of 600,000-800,000 and should have been cancelled after the first season). HBO then charges you almost twice as much to get their channel for one or two shows that you want to watch and you end up propping up the dredge. They’re the most expensive channel out there – you can get Netflix or Amazon prime or even Hulu Plus for what it costs to subscribe to their new Roku Channel. There should be no reason why at least 80% of their shows are decent. Bare minimum. *gets off soapbox*. They need to go by ratings not by what they think we should want to watch. For whatever reason they don’t.

  177. Felt Pelt,

    I agree totally! Well…except for the Xena, they wish they were as bad as Xena. The fight scene in Dorne was a sloppy mess. To think that was the best cut and editing they could do boggles the mind. It was a sloppy mess. I won’t even call it a HOT mess, least someone think I was talking about the Sand Snakes. They were so badly done they made the book reader in me want to weep in disappointment.

  180. To The Powers That Be at HBO: On the date GoT should have come out can we get a really freaking good clip of the season to hold us over the few weeks we will have to wait? It will keep us talking and posting and not want us to grab the nearest Red Witch and have you all burned at the stake to appease the Red God. Thank you! ?

  182. ghost of winterfell,

    That person seems to be trying to hide himself with a hoodie 🙂 … I can think of only Kit Harington who would want to do that…one of the people in the comment section of that post is saying the same thing…but its too blurry to make out

  184. This might have been deliberate, if this season required an exceptional amount of post-production work, even for Game of Thrones. We don’t want to rush the CGI VFX artists, especially if there’s more stuff like Hardhome, or more dragons.

  185. Perhaps HBO doesn’t want GoT to interfere with Vinyl for the Emmy’s next year, GoT finally won breaking all sorts of records and is pushed to a May release, of course there’s the following year, but Vinyl will be firmly anchored by then in the awards realm.
    HBO will have a glut of drama shows in 2017, GoT, Vinyl and Westworld and the powers might calculate Viny’s best chance next year.

  187. As for this show,i feel it will have the same fate BE had,lots of praise and awards for the first season and then quickly forgotten the next seasons and ending with an uneven rushed season . And for the matter i liked BE but it’s obvious that’s what’s going to happen unfortunately .

  188. tyjon,

    HBO isn’t going to deliberately undermine a proven awards commodity like Game of Thrones – which won a record 12 Emmys this year and is currently the reigning champion for Outstanding Drama Series with five consecutive nominations – in order to prop up the chances of a rookie show, no matter how promising they believe it is. If the TV Academy doesn’t respond to Vinyl as fervently as HBO hopes it will, then the network that values prestige and awards more than any other would be shit out of luck without Game of Thrones to fall back on (The Leftovers earned a grand total of zero nominations last year, and is likely too polarizing to make much of an impression, even if the second season is drawing more universal praise. True Detective, meanwhile, is no longer eligible to compete in the Drama Series category, and wouldn’t get much traction there even if it was).

    A bird in hand is better than two in the bush, especially when you can’t don’t know exactly what kind of birds the ones in the bush will be. Boardwalk Empire, like Vinyl, was also a lavish period piece with a pilot that was directed by Martin Scorsese. When that show premiered in 2010, it was supposed to be HBO’s next great prestige drama that won all the awards, not Game of Thrones. Yet Game of Thrones came out of nowhere to become a critical and commercial success, and got nominated for Outstanding Drama Series alongside Boardwalk at a time when analysts were questioning whether or not Academy would take a fantasy show seriously. Meanwhile, while Boardwalk was nominated for Best Drama in its first two seasons, won several acting and directing trophies during its run, and was generally an excellent show, it never became the world-destroying heir to The Sopranos that so many people thought it would be when it was first announced. Over time, Thrones overtook Boardwalk as HBO’s flagship show – something very few people would have predicted when they debuted within a few months of one another.

    The bottom line is that it’s dangerous for a network to bet everything on an unproven show (though I expect that Vinyl will be good and do well at the Emmys). Furthermore, unexpected shows can surprise you if the quality is high enough and they’re given a chance to succeed, even with stiff competition. HBO has proven that they have the clout to get two shows nominated in one year, so why deny themselves that extra opportunity? I don’t think they will.

  189. Ragnar,

    GOT just won 12 emmys for its fifth season, breaking the record for the most awards won in a single year, including one for best drama. I don’t see it being forgotten anytime soon.

  193. Lol that pic of Joffrey perfectly captures the feeling/response that probly everyone that visits this site felt after reading the headline

  195. Young Dragon,

    I was talking about the new show,Vinyl ,which is made by the same people who made Boardwalk Empire .
    Edit: Oh,i see someone already corrected you,nevermind .

  196. Jared,

    Darjan,

    I’m right there with u. A couple weeks is nothing in the whole scheme of things. I however doubt that they’re doing this to add extra polish to se6. It’s more than likely scheduling issues. And now that I think about it, it definitely does not have anything to do with the WOW. I for one am looking forward to watching vinyl and Westwood. We also have Vikings coming out, so I’m just fine with the delay.

  198. Any hint that production slipped or was extended from previous seasons? Maybe they’re expecting they need a bit of extra time in post?

  199. BlackBloc,

    Actually, I think someone “in the know” did mention in the comments section of an older article that production was a bit behind schedule this year. I didn’t put much stock into that at first, but maybe they were legit.

  203. tyjon:
    Perhaps HBO doesn’t want GoT to interfere with Vinyl for the Emmy’s next year, GoT finally won breaking all sorts of records and is pushed to a May release, of course there’s the following year, but Vinyl will be firmly anchored by then in the awards realm.
    HBO will have a glut of drama shows in 2017, GoT, Vinyl and Westworld and the powers might calculate Viny’s best chance next year.

    GoT isn’t pushed to May.

  204. What’s wrong with you delusional people ?
    They are not pushing it to may, they are not waiting for the next book. XD

  206. No Delay,

    Lol, I was hypothesizing concerning the filming of seasons 7 and 8, I’m wondering if they intend on doing a hell of a lot of night shoots, being the long night will be arriving and progressing it’s way southward. Does night shooting take up more production time, and if so, I wonder if they will begin filming later, towards fall/winter to take advantage of the longer nights available. Let’s say filming takes place from October through March, therefore HBO will release season 7 in September 2016.

  209. Jared,

    One factor to keep in mind: in order to be eligible for the 2016 Emmys, Game of Thrones needs to air at least 6 of its 10 episodes before the eligibility cutoff on May 31, 2016.

    Well done research. This should be added in the article ! If Vinyl has 2 episodes aired on its premiere as you say then yes GOT can start on April 17th. Or the 24th even. And if it’s the week after on may1st with a two episodes premiere it still works for the Emmy’s deadline, doesn’t it?

  210. Hariette Tuttle,

    If Vinyl has 2 episodes aired on its premiere as you say then yes GOT can start on April 17th

    Good summation on how a late GoT premiere coupled with a Vinyl double episode night can still enable eligibility for GoT. Sucks to be other channels in 2016 with HBO having Vinyl, GoT, TD, Westworld and Leftovers.

  211. tyjon,

    There is a cinematic technique called La nuit américaine which enables you to shoot night scenes in daylight (underexposure, filters, processing). But that was for the filmstock era… If they did it then they can do it now 🙂

  214. Karsi,

    So, I take it you never loved a low-rated series and only watch shows that are super duper popular? That’s kind of sad… The majority can be wrong and you might be missing out on some fantastic shows that you would love.

  215. Exit81,

    HBO definitely makes some money off of book sales. Some of the covers use promotional images from the show in order to sell more copies.

  216. That is not really that surprising. They want to push “Game Of Thrones” to cover more of the summer schedule. “The Brink” has been cancelled and we haven’t really heard anything about a third season of “True Detective”. With “True Blood” and “Boardwalk Empire” gone, the holes in HBO’s programming are starting to show.

    Besides with all the production woes on “Westworld” and its yet vague premiere date, there is nothing really besides “Vinyl” to anchor HBO in those early winter-to-spring months.

    Also, “The Leftovers”, a show on which I have completely given up on, and its future on HBO is in doubt.

    The only projects far away on the horizon, that I can even think about in terms of bolstering HBO’s line-up, especially with the end of ‘Game Of Thrones” in sight, would be the adaptation by Jonathan Nolan of Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” novels and the “Watchmen” show that has been mentioned recently. Beyond that would be “Masters Of The Air” (tentative title), the companion mini-series to “Band Of Brothers” and “The Pacific”…though not much has been heard about it quite a while.

    Note to HBO…next time you get a project like “Preacher”…try not to pass on it…

  217. tyjon,

    When I was young watching those old classics on tv, I never noticed but by my teens I could easily discern they were shot during daylight with filters.

  220. Alex G,

    No, I doubt HBO planned the release of a brand new show that has nothing to do with GoT just so Winds of Winter can be released.
    Matthew The Dragon knight,

    Oh for crying out loud its not like it has been pushed back 6 months, it is going to be released in the same month as it was planned to…relax.

  221. I don’t think Vinyl starting a few weeks later, which ultimately pushes back the start times on all the shows for the remainder of the year has ZERO NOTHING to do with Winds of Winter. Martin and HBO do not collaborate in that manner. Martin will not play games with his release date and lil things like this can’t be turned into OH TWOW will be out early April.

  224. Hummmm. . . .Last year when “Outlander” took off on Starz, they lengthened their mid-season break so that the premiere of the second half of the season ran beside Game of Thrones. Of course, both are big blockbusters ratings cash cows for their network–but, both are also fantasy-based. I personally was sickened that the Outlander episode “Wentworth Prison” that featured main character Jamie Fraizer being tortured and raped was aired on May 16th. “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken,” which we all shudder to remember as Sansa’s wedding night, aired May 17th. Yeah, it was a great TV week for me!! (cries a little) That’s May Sweeps period here in the US. All the shows gear up for their highest ratings and compete like crazy. They also want to get their best performances in because the deadline for Emmy Submissions are also coming up. So, maybe it’s just that the two show are really similar. Shoot, both have Tobias Mendez, come on!!! Hahaha But, I still think that Starz and HBO are purposely putting their best shows running concurrently on purpose for a reason. Maybe they just forgot we all have DVR’s now? LOL

Comments are closed.