Taylor Swift's new single "Look What You Made Me Do" from her upcoming album dropped Thursday night to a largelydismissive reaction from the music world. 

While some critics lamented the song's "deranged chorus" and "psycho pop" sound, anyone familiar with Swift's controversial history with Kanye West noted that the Chicago rapper was the clear subject of Swift's scorn on the track.

"I don't like your little games / Don't like your tilted stage / The role you made me play of the fool," Swift sings at the start of the song, with a pointed reference to the shifting, elevated stage West performed on during his 2016 Saint Pablo tour. 

Swift's ire at having to play "the fool" seems to be directed at West and his wife, Kim Kardashian West, for releasing footage of her initially approving the sentiment behind West's song "Famous," which featured an explicit reference to the 27-year-old singer. 

Swift subsequently disapproved of the song and threatened legal action against West for secretly recording their conversation.

"Look What You Made Me Do" is the first single from Swift's upcoming album, "Reputation," which is due out November 10.

Listen to the song below:

SEE ALSO: All the digs at Kanye West fans spotted in Taylor Swift's new song

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 7 details you might have missed on season 7 episode 3 of 'Game of Thrones'

Warning: Spoiler alerts if you are not up to date with the most recent "Game of Thrones" episode.

Only a few "Game of Thrones" characters from the first season managed to stay alive long enough to see the seventh.

The surviving characters on "Game of Thrones" have been through a lot, and have gone through quite a lot of changes since the series began.

If one thing is certain, it's that no one on "Game of Thrones" has remained the same.

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They have traveled far and wide and been through so many battle and adventures that at times it's hard to remember where they began. We decided to compare what life was like for these characters when their stories first began and what life is like for them now.

Here's what the main characters of "Game of Thrones" were like in season one, and here's what they're like now as season seven comes to a close:

SEE ALSO: 9 new photos from the 'Game of Thrones' season finale tease crackling tension in King's Landing

Ser Jorah Mormont - season one

Ser Jorah was originally hired by Daenerys Targaryen's brother, Viserys, to help him and Daenerys understand the ways of the Dothraki. After Viserys is killed by Khal Drogo, Ser Jorah ends up becoming Daenerys' sole counsel.

Even though it was not revealed until later on in the series, Ser Jorah was spying on Daenerys throughout all of season one for King Robert Baratheon, so that his exile from Westeros would be lifted.

Ser Jorah Mormont - season seven

Ser Jorah was afflicted with and then cured of greyscale, and has now returned to Daenerys' side once more.

After it was revealed that he had been spying on Daenery's, Ser Jorah has since pledged to do whatever he can to help the Mother of Dragons with her quest to rule Westeros.

Ser Jorah most recently went beyond The Wall to retrieve a wight with Jon Snow, and the Brotherhood Without Banners for Daenerys. There's no telling what he'll do for her next.

Samwell Tarly - season one

Samwell, forced to either take the black or be executed by his own father, made his way to Castle Black where he befriends Jon Snow.

Samwell is terrible at fighting, and remains the brunt of most jokes throughout the majority of the first season. 

After nearly three decades spent capturing lawmakers, politicians, and ordinary people, Stephen Crowley announced earlier this month that he was retiring from his post as Washington photographer at The New York Times.

Throughout his career, Crowley became known for taking photos of some of the most powerful people in Washington — as well as capturing moments that would later come to define history. 

In his later years, he started posting photos of his work on Instagram and gained a loyal following on the platform.

See some of Crowley's most breathtaking images below:

SEE ALSO: A photographer spent 25 years documenting rich people — here's what she learned

Crowley's photos capture historic moments in Washington's political circles.

MCCAIN-WEST PALM BEACH, FL--JAN, 24, 2008--John McCain discussing the economy during an interview with The New York Times in West Palm Beach Fl., January 24, 2008 #mccain #arizona

A post shared by Stephen Crowley (@crowleygraph) on Jul 20, 2017 at 11:09am PDT

Many of Crowley's photos speak volumes about the state of US politics.

The Great Emancipator. #lincoln #USCapitol

A post shared by Stephen Crowley (@crowleygraph) on May 11, 2017 at 1:11pm PDT

Crowley captured some of the most well-known faces in politics...

A post shared by Stephen Crowley (@crowleygraph) on Jul 8, 2017 at 6:16pm PDT

Japan has a sex problem. The country's birthrate is shrinking year after year, to the point where deaths are outpacing births.

Simply put, Japan's population is decreasing.

But let's be clear: Population change is a complicated subject affected by many factors.

Western media often correlates the decline in Japan's population size with recent studies of Japanese sexual habits and marriage. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in Japan, for instance, found that "almost 70 percent of unmarried men and 60 percent of unmarried women are not in a relationship."

But just because people aren't in relationships doesn't mean they don't want companionship, of course. And that's where something like Gatebox comes in.

Yes, that is an artificially intelligent character who lives in a glass tube in your home. Her name is Azuma Hikari, and she's the star of Gatebox — a $2,500 Amazon Echo-esque device that acts as a home assistant and companion.

Here's what we know:

SEE ALSO: Japan's sex problem is so bad that people are quitting dating and marrying their friends

DON'T MISS: Japan's huge sex problem is setting up a 'demographic time bomb' for the country

A Japanese company named Vinclu created the Gatebox.

It's about the size of an 8-inch by 11-inch piece of paper, according to Vinclu. And there's a good reason for that: The device is intended to be "big enough for you to be able to put right beside you." You'll understand why you'd want a Gatebox so close soon enough.

The Gatebox is similar to Amazon's Echo — it's a voice-powered home assistant.

The Gatebox has a microphone and a camera because you operate it using your voice.

For now, it will respond only to Japanese; the company making Gatebox says it's exploring other language options. Considering that preorder units are available for both Japan and the US, we'd guess that an English-language option is in the works.

Gatebox does a lot of the same stuff that Echo does — it can automate your home in various ways, including turning on lights and waking you up in the morning.

• Snapchat is starting to warm up to the group of internet celebrities and so-called influencers that it has long ignored.
• The app is starting to verify more of these influencers in recent weeks, giving them access to special features that normal users don't have.
• The shift in strategy comes as Snapchat's user growth has slowed in the face of fierce competition from Facebook-owned Instagram, which has worked closely with celebrities and users with large followings for years.

Earlier this year, Cyrene Quiamco received a surprise invitation to visit Snap Inc.'s headquarters in Venice Beach, California.

With more than 100,000 followers, Quiamco is part of a small group of Snapchat power users who have built sizeable audiences and made thousands of dollars promoting brands on their accounts.

An early Snapchat user who first started partnering with brands in 2014, Quiamco — who goes by "CyreneQ" in the app — had tried for years to contact Snap employees and have them fix her problems with the app, which frequently crashed due to the sheer number of messages she received.

While her bugs persisted, she watched Snapchat proactively reach out to household names using the app, like DJ Khaled and Kylie Jenner. In November 2015, Snapchat started verifying top celebrities in the app, giving them access to special features and emoji versions of the coveted blue check marks found on other social apps.

Quiamco watched as many of her "influencer" peers, realizing that they may never be verified, stopped posting regularly to Snapchat and took the audiences they had built elsewhere.

Then one day in March, seemingly out of the blue, Snap asked her to come visit its Venice Beach offices. During her visit, Quiamco was given a Snapchat-branded backpack filled with company swag, and she met with folks from Snap's partnership team. Not long after that, she was sent a pair of Spectacles and verified in the app.

“I was like, 'Wow, they actually acknowledged me, they’re the ones reaching out to me,'" Quiamco told Business Insider of her first meeting with Snap, adding that she's had more discussions with the company since.

Expanding Snapchat's 'Official Stories'

While internet celebrities like Quiamco have thrived and earned sizeable incomes from posting videos to platforms like YouTube and Instagram, Snapchat has historically kept them at arm's length.

Snap executives have maintained that they want to cultivate a social network for close friends. View counts aren't broadcasted in Snapchat, and the app has never shown users how many followers they have.

But in recent weeks, Snap's attitude towards influencers like Quiamco has changed. The company has been reaching out to internet celebs like famous YouTubers and former Vine stars, verifying them and asking them for feedback about how to improve the app.

A Snap spokesperson told Business Insider that the company has been intentionally deliberate about expanding its verified "Official Stories" program, and is planning to verify more of its top users in the coming months.

Aside from a dedicated emoji next to your name, being verified on Snapchat comes with a list of exclusive perks: a collab mode that lets multiple phones post to the same account without having to log in, account promotion in search and the app's crowdsourced "Our Stories" feature for events, the ability to create geofilters for free, and an emergency contact for problems with the app. Verified users can also get important information, like their follower count, from Snap.

Snap is also working on more features for verified accounts, including better analytics and more prominent placement in search, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company has already verified a handful of non-people accounts, like The White House and Major League Soccer.

The expansion of Official Stories comes as Snapchat's user growth has slowed in the face of fierce competition from Facebook-owned Instagram, which has worked closely with celebrities and users with large followings for years. Facebook will soon release a standalone app to make it easier for creators to see video analytics and interact with their fans.

"I think it's exciting to see that Snapchat is recognizing the celebrities being created on their own platform," said Nick Cicero, CEO of analytics firm Delmondo. "It's a sign that they understand that homegrown stars like Ross Smith, CyreneQ and Shonduras can emerge on their own platform and then turn into bonafide celebs."

While many Snapchat power users like Quiamco have spread their efforts onto additional platforms like YouTube, Quiamco doesn't think it's too late for Snap to finally kick-start its relationships with influencers.

“Even though people left Snapchat, they’re not completely off it," she said. "They’re posting sometimes and keeping the door open."

SEE ALSO: Meet the most important people who help Evan Spiegel run Snap Inc.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: RICH GREENFIELD: There is just one way for Snapchat to survive Facebook

You don’t expect to see your dad die in a game of "Madden."

Not your dad, of course. But with the addition of a full-on story mode, "Madden NFL 18" wades into the waters of scripted drama — a first in the popular football game series’ 29-year history.

Like recent "NBA 2K" and "FIFA" games, "Madden NFL 18" is a more accessible and ambitious game because of it. For the first time in years, there is a genuine nudge for people to jump in who don't buy every annual "Madden" game like clockwork in.

Beyond those narrative aspirations, though, "Madden NFL 18" is still "Madden." That’s still good and bad. Let’s take a closer look:

SEE ALSO: The new 'Sonic the Hedgehog' is the first good Sonic game ever made

The story mode in “Madden NFL 18” is called “Longshot,” and it’s easily the most dramatic change to this year’s game. Playing it often feels surreal considering what “Madden” games are usually like.

In Longshot you play as Devin Wade, a Texas-bred 23-year-old with football in his blood. He was a five-star recruit and the star of his high school team, just like his dad, Cutter, before him. But he fell on hard times shortly thereafter and abruptly quit football altogether. Now he’s looking to rebuild his life and career by living up to his lost potential and making it to the NFL.

Wade is joined throughout by Colt Cruise, his best friend and former teammate who also dreams of playing in the pros. He’s goofy — the kind of guy who nicknames himself “the Cruise missile” — but earnest, loyal, and ultimately likable.

Longshot itself is a series of long cutscenes interspersed with quick-time events (moments where you have to hit a button as it appears onscreen) and limited sections of the usual “Madden” gameplay.

It’s very straightforward: You only play as Devin, and Devin is always a quarterback. There is no fail state.

This might frustrate veteran players who want something more flexible, but as an olive branch to lapsed “Madden” players it works well as a sort of extended tutorial. The script includes a few breakdowns of football concepts — how to read pass coverage, what formation names mean, etc. — that are explained in human terms, yet don’t feel out of place within the larger narrative.

That said, the value of Longshot is in watching its story unfold.

If the setup above didn’t make it obvious, Longshot deals heavily in clichés and sweeping terms.

The story is based in an idyllic Texas town, where football is worshipped and the only working people you see grind away at a rock quarry. It’s all very “Friday Night Lights.” Devin and Cole drive around that town in a beat up pick-up truck.

Every single character is a type: There’s the smarmy TV producer, the no-nonsense football coach, the constantly loving and supportive father, and the portly friend who’s always hungry. (What there is not: women who aren’t devoid of personality, which is sadly predictable.)

It’s largely a tale of redemption and overcoming the odds, which is well-worn territory for sports movies.

Microsoft's Xbox One isn't getting crushed, but it's certainly not holding its own against Sony's PlayStation 4.

The best estimates we have for a sales comparison put the PlayStation 4 in the lead by somewhere in the vicinity of two-to-one — Sony's got nearly 65 million PlayStation 4 consoles in the wild. The latest update on Xbox One sales comes from the world's largest video game retailer, GameStop, which characterized the console as "lagging" compared to the competition.

In GameStop's second quarter earnings release, the company specifically cited a 14% jump in hardware sales as due to demand for Nintendo's popular new Switch console. On the flip side, the company pointed to "lagging Xbox One sales" as the reason for dips in new software and pre-owned sales numbers.

Game consoles are, of course, sold in many places other than GameStop. But GameStop is also the largest game retailer in the world by a long shot, with over 6,000 stores around the planet.

Despite "lagging" sales of the Xbox One, GameStop remains positive in its outlook for the upcoming Xbox One X — Microsoft's more powerful, $500 update to the original Xbox One.

The console's main sell point is its ability to play games in full 4K resolution, the next step up in visual fidelity after HD. To this end, a new game in the "Forza Motorsport" series is launching just ahead of the Xbox One X — Microsoft's promising big games like "Metro: Exodus" and "Crackdown 3" in 2018, with 4K support for the new Xbox One.

The Xbox One X launches on November 7. Check out a trailer for the console right here:

SEE ALSO: The PlayStation 4 is selling about twice as fast as the Xbox One

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NOW WATCH: Watch Microsoft announce the next Xbox — Xbox One X

The world of e-sports is massive and still growing, and advertisers are wondering how they can profit from this phenomenon.

Kevin Lin, COO of Twitch, and Peter More, chief competition officer of EA, sat down with Business Insider's Steve Kovach at IGNITION 2016 to discuss the role advertisers play in e-sports.

In addition to revenue sources like subscriptions, donations, sponsorships, event-based ticketing, merchandise, food and beverage, and in-game items, Lin said advertising is the main way e-sports are monetized.

So why do advertisers want to get involved? For one thing, the viewership numbers are huge. “Some of them hit tens of millions,” Lin said. “In concurrents, you’ll see millions.” Additionally, users spend two hours a day, on average, watching content. During competitions, the number grows to 8 to 10 hours.

Another reason e-sports are intriguing to advertisers is the demographic they reach. According to Lin, 90% of the Twitch audience subscribes to Netflix or Hulu rather than traditional cable. “Broadcasters are wondering how to reach this demographic,” Moore said, so they want to be a part of e-sports.

With millions of young people not seeing traditional advertisements, companies are recognizing the need to engage with younger audiences in other ways. But there is a challenge in this form of advertising. Because this audience is not used to traditional advertising, they are quick to recognize when something is not authentic.

Moore mentioned that brands have to be careful when entering this space, and must be able to show they are truly interested in growing the field of e-sports rather than just selling a product.

“A lot of brands that are very interested in the space are building entire divisions that are hired from the community,” Lin said. “They can help craft a message and marketing plan that really resonates.”

When done correctly, massive success can be had. For example, Nissan launched a holiday campaign on Twitch. The Twitter impressions and chat messages involving the word “Nissan” were in the millions. Nissan did not expect this result, but because the campaign was authentic it succeeded.

Companies have huge potential to reach a new audience by dipping into e-sports, and we will likely be seeing even more of this in the future.

To learn more about the future of digital, be sure to attend Business Insider's IGNITION 2017!

We’re rolling out the speaker lineup over the coming months, and you won’t want to miss it. Business Insider IGNITION 2017 will take place November 29-30 at the Time Warner Center in New York City. Right now we're offering Early-Bird tickets that will save you $400 — don't miss out!

Register Today!

To hear more about the world of e-sports, check out the full interview below (the segment starts at 2:12).

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In the time of too much TV, there's a lot to catch up on. And once you've caught up on everything, there's already twenty more shows that you have to see. 

With the Emmys coming up on September 17, there's not much time to catch up on the best seasons and performances of the year.

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So we put together a list of who we think will win, and who we think should win. If you're excited to see the best contenders among all the nominees this year, look no further. 

Here's our list of who will win the Emmys, and who should:

SEE ALSO: Here are the biggest Emmy snubs of 2017 — from Justin Theroux to Winona Ryder

DRAMA SERIES

THE NOMINEES:

"Better Call Saul"

"The Crown"

"The Handmaid's Tale"

"House of Cards"

"Stranger Things"

"This Is Us"

"Westworld"

WILL WIN: "This Is Us"

SHOULD WIN: "The Handmaid's Tale"

"The Handmaid's Tale" is relevant, impeccably acted, and visionary, from the directing to the costumes to the music. Despite its upsetting setting, the show finds some humor and light in the darkness. This well-made modern interpretation of the classic novel shows how book adaptations work in the television format. It's also completely changed the game in proving that Hulu is some serious competition for Netflix, Amazon, and all the networks now. 

Amazon Studios head Roy Price was investigated for allegedly making unwanted sexual remarks to "The Man in the High Castle" producer Isa Hackett, according to The Information's Kim Masters. 

The remarks were allegedly made by Price at Comic-Con in 2015, following a day of promotional events for Amazon's show. Hackett is the daughter of Philip K. Dick, whose novel inspired the series.

According to the report, an investigation was quickly conducted, however the findings are unknown. Price is still running Amazon Studios and Hackett is still a producer on "The Man in the High Castle."

“I do not wish to discuss the details of this troubling incident with Roy except to say Amazon investigated immediately and with an outside investigator,” Hackett said to The Information. “It’s my great privilege and responsibility to oversee adaptations of my father’s work and I intend to remain focused on doing my very best to give fans thoughtful, faithful and entertaining shows.” 

Amazon Studios did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment, but told The Information that it encourages employees to voice concerns and always investigates any claims.

News of the alleged investigation at Amazon Studios comes at a time when both Hollywood and Silicon Valley are dealing with other sexual harassment claims. 

Earlier this week, two top employees of the Los Angeles arthouse staple Cinefamily stepped down after allegations of sexual harassment surfaced. Uber recently fired more than 20 employees following an investigation into sexual harassment and other bad behavior. 

You can read the full report over at The Information.

SEE ALSO: "Wonder Woman" director responds to James Cameron calling her film "a step backwards"

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This week, Beck released a new song from his upcoming tenth album, and the Wu-Tang Clan dropped its first single as a collective since 2014.

Here are the 5 best songs from the past week that you can stream right now:

SEE ALSO: The best songs from last week — Led Zeppelin's Robert Plant, Grizzly Bear, and more

Wu-Tang Clan — "People Say" (feat. Redman)

Led off by two sharp verses from Method Man and Raekwon, and featuring an intricate 16 bars from longtime Wu affiliate Redman, "People Say" finds the Wu-Tang Clan uniting in peak form on its first collective single in three years. 

Four Tet — "SW9 9SL"

English electronic producer Four Tet continues his streak of stellarsingles with "SW9 9SL," a house track that builds steadily toward a striking and hypnotic payoff of densely layered synths. 

Syd — "Bad Dream / No Looking Back"

Fresh off an acclaimed solo album, Syd, the lead singer of indie-R&B band The Internet, returns with a slow-burning and intimate two-part single about the space between falling in love and getting "too attached."

For nearly 10 years, a highly-anticipated finale to the "Half-Life" video game franchise has eluded fans. Mere mention of the words "Half-Life 3" has become farce.

It appears as though the game's writer just leaked the conclusion fans have been waiting on all this time.

Long-time Valve Software writer Marc Laidlaw tweeted out a link on Thursday night to a story that sounds an awful lot like what could've been "Half-Life 2: Episode 3" (aka "Half-Life 3").

Laidlaw left Valve in the last few years, having served as a writer through the entirety of the main "Half-Life" series. Though the story he lays out uses pseudonyms for various characters and alien races, it's pretty clear that Laidlaw's laying out his vision for the conclusion to the series. 

Thankfully, fans have already "translated" Laidlaw's version into "Half-Life" language (of course they have).

In a subsequent tweet, Laidlaw refers to the story he posted as "fanfic," and "a genderswapped snapshot of a dream I had many years ago." In so many words, though this shouldn't be considered the definitive conclusion, it's a close approximation of what was once the plan.

In an answer to a fan, Laidlaw even refuses to go into more detail about a specific couple of characters, saying "that is something Valve might still want to develop, flesh out and explain someday." 

It's not clear what happened to the development of "Half-Life 2: Episode 3"/"Half-Life 3," only that it eventually faded to the point of non-existence. What is clear is that Valve has set its sights elsewhere.

"Half-Life" creator Valve has largely moved on from the type of narrative-based, single-player game that "Half-Life" was. The outrageously successful Steam storefront is Valve's primary concern, though the company still makes plenty of games: "DOTA 2," "Team Fortress 2," and several others. 

None of those games, though, are the promised finale to the "Half-Life" series. It's been nearly 10 years since the last installment in the series, "Half-Life 2: Episode 2," arrived. A promised third episode never came, and Valve eventually stopped answering questions about the franchise. 

Fans of the series, as you might imagine, are very excited about finally getting some closure.

A representative for Valve didn't immediately response to request for comment.

SEE ALSO: The new 'Uncharted' is the best $40 you can spend on gaming in 2017

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NOW WATCH: Everything you need to know about 'Battlegrounds' — an unfinished game that’s already made $60 million

Bill Nye has spent the last decade trying to figure out Disney accounting and now he's finally had enough.

On Thursday, the man behind "The Science Guy" TV show filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that the studio owes him $28 million in profits from distribution of "Bill Nye the Science Guy."

According to the lawsuit, Nye has been suspicious of Disney's books since 2008, when Disney informed him that he owed the company close to $500,000 due to an "accounting error."

“The disturbing size of the supposed ‘accounting error,’ coupled with the seeming indifference of both (Buena Vista Television) and (the Walt Disney Company), left Mr. Nye suspicious of the veracity of the accounting statements he had been receiving from BVT over the years,” the suit states.

In 2008, after Nye sent his annual profit participation to the company, which amounted to $585,123, the company said it had made an accounting error and requested that he return $496,111, according to the suit.

Nye hired a lawyer and attempted to audit Disney's statements. However, that turned out to be a frustrating endeavor. The company allegedly said it was backlogged with audits and would not be able to get to Nye's for three or four years. Once Disney did, the company withheld documents, or said it would produce documents and then didn't, the lawsuit alleges. 

The lawsuit alleges Disney owes Nye and the other owners of the show $28 million. 

Nye and two producers launched "Bill Nye the Science Guy" in 1992, in partnership with KCTS, the Seattle PBS affiliate. The following year, Nye and the producers landed a distribution deal with Disney.

Business Insider contacted Disney for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

See the lawsuit filed below:

SEE ALSO: 34 movies you have to see this fall — including "Justice League," "It," and "Blade Runner 2049"

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NOW WATCH: Here’s what it’s like to ride on one of the oldest roller coaster rides in America

Nintendo's got a brand new Super Mario game in the works, but with an all-new spin.

Rather than a traditional Mario title, this one co-stars the Rabbids, the characters from Ubisoft's long-running game franchise. The new game's called "Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle" and will be a "turn-based tactical adventure" game, according to Ubisoft.

In "Mario +Rabbids," players will see the battlefield where the action takes place from a birds-eye view. 

The combat looks a bit more complex than the standard Mario & Luigi-style RPGs, and there are a variety of tactics for taking down groups of enemies. In the image below, you can see Mario taking a shot at an enemy who's hiding behind cover.

It looks like Nintendo and Ubisoft will be playing up the over-the-top nature of the Rabbids universe. The first trailer for the game, seen below, is rife with zany antics. And it looks as though the game makers drew from past titles to include lots of the goofy flair and funny quirks from the Rabbids and Super Mario franchises. Rabbids dressed up as major Super Mario characters? You bet! 

Though the game is developed by Ubisoft, it's clear that Nintendo was directly involved in the production of "Mario + Rabbids." Nintendo mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto was even on-hand at Ubisoft's E3 event in Los Angeles when the game was introduced back in June.

"Mario & Rabbids" has reportedly been in development for the past three years, and it's coming to the Nintendo Switch on August 29 as an exclusive — that's this coming Tuesday!

The first trailer for the game is right here:

SEE ALSO: Nintendo's approach to selling the $80 Super Nintendo is an anti-consumer fiasco

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NOW WATCH: 5 hidden features only PlayStation 4 power users know about

"Game of Thrones" has become a ratings Juggernaut since its premiere in 2011.

The penultimate, seventh season premiere of "Game of Thrones" broke the record for the most watched HBO season premiere of all time when it reached 26 million views across platforms and in delayed viewing, according to Variety. 

Curious to see how "Game of Thrones" ratings stack up against the season premieres of other popular HBO shows, Business Insider reached out to the audience measurement company Nielsen for answers.

It was impossible for Nielsen to provide the ratings information for every HBO season premiere, so instead a handful of some of the most critically acclaimed HBO shows were selected by Business Insider compare: "Game of Thrones," "The Sopranos," "Sex and the City," "True Blood," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "The Wire," "Six Feet Under," "The Leftovers," and "Girls."

The way TV is viewed has changed significantly since the introduction of DVR and streaming sites, and views from outside of linear TV have only just begun to be taken into account when calculating ratings. The data in our roundup only accounts for live views, as well as some time shifted (DVR) viewing within the same day. Data for season premieres aired prior to 2006 only factor in live views.

The results? When it comes to live television views for HBO season premieres, "Game of Thrones" doesn't come in first place, in fact it doesn't even come in second, or third — it comes in fifth place, at least when only looking at live views. Even though it's been 16 years since it aired, "The Sopranos" season three premiere raked in the most live views of any HBO season premiere. "The Sopranos" fourth season premiere follows in second place, and "Sex and the City"'s fourth season premiere comes in third place.

It should be noted that "The Sopranos' " season three premiere, and "Sex and the City's" season four and season one premieres were aired as two separate programs, but for the sake of brevity we combined the numbers.

The season premiere ratings for "The Wire," "The Leftovers," and "Girls" didn't make it onto the top 20 highest ranking HBO premiere list. The highest live views "Girls" received was for its third season premiere at 1.1 million, "The Leftovers"'s highest rated season premiere was its first with 1.7 million views, and "The Wire" had the most views for its second season premiere with 4.4 million views.

The season premiere that had the lowest season premiere, out of the shows selected was "Girls" — its fifth season pulled in a meager 489,000 views the night it aired.

Of course, there are a ton of series season premieres that were left out of this ranking, and streaming views from HBO Go and HBO Now are not accounted for — the inclusion of which would no doubt shake this chart up quite a bit. But based on the numbers, "The Sopranos" and "Sex and the City" commanded live audiences like no other.

SEE ALSO: The 'Game of Thrones' season 7 premiere had the highest ratings in the show's history — here's how the seasons compare

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See story here.

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In this shortened, seven-episode season of "Game of Thrones," basically anyone can be killed — at any time. 

So to prepare you (and ourselves) for the end of a season suspiciously filled with only a few deaths, we put together a list of all the characters with a pretty big chance of dying this week.

Season seven episode seven, "The Dragon and the Wolf" airs Sunday night on HBO.

Here's who will live and who will die this week on "Game of Thrones:"

SEE ALSO: The 9 biggest questions after this week's 'Game of Thrones'

Sansa Stark — 68%

Chance of survival: 68%. Sansa will probably survive the season, but the last time we saw her, Arya literally threatened to cut off her face. 

Tyrion Lannister — 65%

Chance of survival: 65%. Tyrion is at a huge risk being within reach of his sister, Cersei. But the chances that we will see his death on the show are slim, but it would be a death that cuts deep and changes the game (of thrones!) moving forward. He's one of the people to root for, which makes him pretty vulnerable. 

Brienne of Tarth — 60%

Chance of survival: 60%. Won't be surprising at all if she makes it, just delightful. Brienne is one of the few characters who deserves to make it to the, what we assume to be happy, end. But she does fight for a living, and she'll definitely do some fighting in King's Landing. 

The seventh season of “Game of Thrones” hasn’t been easy to watch.

After a strong sixth season that had cohesive, thematic episodes that played out organically with the narrative (the Arya/Waif plot excluded, and even that can be forgiven now), the writers proved that they were capable of moving this story forward and ending it without the guidance of George R.R. Martin’s books.

Good things can be fleeting. In the shortened seventh season, I'd argue we’ve seen the opposite, the episodes jump from place to place, often skipping over long periods of travel.

But that's not the biggest problem. The problem is every other choice the writers have made, from characters to plot to dialogue. 

Here are all the problems with the seventh season of "Game of Thrones" that will hopefully be forgotten after the season finale:

SEE ALSO: The 9 biggest questions after this week's 'Game of Thrones'

The jarring pacing

With a shortened season and so few episodes left in the series, it was a given that there'd be time jumps. In a penultimate season of a show that's wrapping up its story, there isn't time to watch characters travel for five episodes anymore. 

The fact that Jon Snow and friends travel so much and appear at their destination in the next scene isn't the problem. The problem is how jarring it is compared to the precedent the show has set for the passage of time. In season four, one of the central arcs was Arya and The Hound's journey from the Riverlands to the Vale. If you look at a map of Westeros, that's not very far compared to some of Jon Snow's travels, but it took Arya and The Hound pretty much the duration of the ten-episode season to get there. 

That's not a problem: we got to know The Hound better, and Arya got to sympathize with him. This journey ended with Arya sailing to Braavos, and her time with The Hound changed both of them in a lot of ways. 

In season six, there wasn't much traveling, so there wasn't an indication that the show was about to change its pace. This makes the season seven jumps incredibly jarring. Jon Snow hopping all over the continent of Westeros isn't an issue, the issue is that we weren't eased into it. This new storytelling tactic was abrupt, and it doesn't make sense for the show when it could have easily fit in with some gradual pacing changes. 

The writers are obsessed with saving time, but actually waste a lot of it.

There are multiple scenes in season seven that show a character who is definitely not going to die almost dying.

"The Spoils of War" ends with Jaime falling into a deep body of water, sinking. It's a pointless cliffhanger. Of course Jaime isn't dead. So why waste screen time, and money, teasing that he could?

In "Beyond the Wall" we see Jorah Mormont almost fall off Drogon mid-air. The Hound helps him up. We get that riding on a dragon isn't easy, but why waste money (this is an expensive shot) and time for an unnecessary death tease? If they really want these characters' lives to be at stake, one or more of them should die in action.

Jaime isn't the only main character who almost drowns, but doesn't. In "Beyond the Wall," when Jon stupidly keeps fighting wights instead of hopping on Drogon, a few of the wights pull him into the lake. He emerges minutes later, and he is just fine! 

We never knew what would happen next, but it always made sense. We still never know what will happen, but now a lot of it makes no sense.

One of the things that audiences admire about "Game of Thrones" is the shocking deaths and twists. Ned Stark's execution in season one changed everything. Same with Catelyn and Robb Stark's deaths at the Red Wedding. Anyone can die at any time, even the heroes, and death doesn't spare anyone's feelings. Knowing this elevated every scene, every minute and every second of the show. 

But now that a lot of characters have been eliminated, they're relatively safe, which makes the show a little less exciting. Sure, that means there's less anxiety, but that's not what made "Game of Thrones" a hit. 

The battle in "The Spoils of War" is one of the highlights of the show. It's shot beautifully, and the shifts in perspectives from Bronn to Jaime to Daenerys make it thrilling. It brings back that horrible, exciting feeling that anyone could die right now. And despite Drogon breathing fire all over the Lannister army, every character we knew luckily survived. Jaime, Bronn, Randyll and Dickon Tarly. This lowers the stakes of the threat Daenerys is to the characters on Cersei's side, and just makes us all the more convinced that she will take the Iron Throne from her easily.

We know Daenerys will probably end up on the throne anyways, but making it seem easy and without significant casualties makes it less engaging, and less threatening. And having Benjen Stark appear out of nowhere to save Jon after Daenerys saves the day just feels too unlikely.

Every year since 2007, a tent city has risen over a remote swath of desert outside Cape Town, South Africa. Thousands of people descend for the weeklong gathering, complete with crazy costumes, art installations, and all-night parties. The pop-up city disappears in seven days.

Sound familiar? It's Africa's version of the famous Burning Man festival.

Founded in 2007, AfrikaBurn is a regional event sanctioned by the organizers of Burning Man. It's similar to the annual counterculture gathering in Black Rock Desert, Nevada, but with more nudity and smaller crowds. Some have described the festival as what Burning Man was like 10 years ago, before it became a cultural phenomenon.

These photos give us a glimpse of what it's like to attend AfrikaBurn.

SEE ALSO: 30,000 people descended on Oregon for a festival that's like Burning Man for eclipse-chasers — here are the photos

Welcome to AfrikaBurn — Africa's version of Burning Man.

The festival draws over 13,000 people annually, making it the largest outpost of 130 regional Burning Man events around the world and the biggest arts festival in Africa.

Source: Africa News

By comparison, the original Burning Man festival in Nevada is attended by 70,000 people.

Because AfrikaBurn is more intimate than its counterpart in the states, some people say it's "like Burning Man, but better." Burners travel from around the world for the event.

Source: BuzzFeed

Whether it's movie stars or directors, everyone is flocking to TV and streaming lately to cash in. But the money has always been there for TV show hosts.

They are the ones who are in our living rooms on a daily basis, and since the 1950s executives have shaped TV hosts — whether they be on morning shows or late night — to have a quality that makes them almost feel like they are part of our family. And that leads to big bucks.

Variety has compiled the biggest estimated annual salaries of reality, news, and talk show hosts. There's newbies to the game like Mike Meyers, Jamie Foxx, and Megyn Kelly, and then there are the big hitters like Ryan Seacrest, Ellen DeGeneres, and Judith Sheindlin (you know here better as Judge Judy).

Here are the top 20 paid hosts:

Note: Some of these figures below include fees for producing and back-end compensation. 

SEE ALSO: 34 movies you have to see this fall — including "Justice League," "It," and "Blade Runner 2049"

Mike Myers (“The Gong Show”) - $3 million

Jamie Foxx (“Beat Shazam”) - $ 3 million

Alec Baldwin (“Match Game”) - $3 million