Foxtel has apologised to Game of Thrones fans after technical glitches marred the much-anticipated premiere of the hit TV show's latest season.
Spokesman Bruce Meagher blamed an unprecedented surge by fans signing up to watch the show online on Foxtel Now and via the pay TV operator's on demand service caused them to crash.
"It's most unfortunate and we apologise to those affected," he said in a statement.
"We assure anyone impacted that they will be able to watch the first episode of Season 7 either On Demand or via one of our encore screenings throughout the week."
Fans took to social media to vent their fury.
"The most popular show on TV & they f*** up due 2 unprecedented demand No wonder peeps," Jim Kellam tweeted.
Connor McBride was also left frustrated.
"@Foxtel Trying to get your website to work was more painful than watching Oberyn's head implode," he tweeted.
Some fans turned to pirated copies of the episode after Foxtel failed.
"Thanks to @Foxtel's amateurishness, people who pirated Game of Thrones got much better service tonight than legitimate customers," Mark Newton tweeted.
