'True Blood' sucks up another series high audience

Alexander Skarsgård and Stephen Moyer of 'True Blood'

Credit: John P. Johnson/HBO

We're not sure if it's news anymore when HBO's "True Blood" sets a new series high for viewers, but we like to keep y'all informed every time the gothic vampire soap raises its own bar.

HBO says that "True Blood" averaged an estimated 4.5 million viewers in its 9 p.m. airing on Sunday (Aug. 16) night. The steamy series has been elevating that series high audience nearly every week this season.

In terms of gross audience -- referring to viewers watching linear plays, DVR and on HBO OnDemand, not viewers who enjoy a good Hunter's Souffle -- "True Blood" is now averaging 11.4 million viewers per episode. That figure has also been moving upwards throughout the season.

If you're an HBO ratings completist, Sunday's "Hung" and "Entourage" both averaged 2.8 million viewers in their first Sunday night airings. Neither of those figures constitutes a record ("Hung" was averaging well over 3 million viewers last month), but HBO is still plenty pleased with the gross audiences of 9.5 million viewers for "Hung" (actually up from earlier in its run) and 8.1 million viewers for "Entourage."