TV

A single episode of the HBO medieval series was downloaded more than 4 million times, with majority of TV piracy occuring outside the United States.

• Dec 28, 2012

AceShowbiz - "Game of Thrones" and "Dexter" once again prove that they are highly anticipated by fans, though not in the way that shows' bosses expect. The two series are the most pirated TV show of 2012, according to TorrentFreak.

As many as 4.28 million people watched an episode of HBO's "Game of Thrones". It surpassed an estimated 4.2 million viewers which watched the episode on the premium cable channel the night it aired.

As for "Dexter", its top episode was downloaded 3.85 times in just a week. It's one million more than the number of legal U.S. audience which watched the episode on Showtime (estimated 2.75 million viewers).

"The Big Bang Theory", "How I Met Your Mother" and "Breaking Bad" round out the top five of most downloaded TV shows this year. "The Walking Dead", "Homeland" and newcomer "Revolution" also make it into the list.

The site reports that more than 80|percent| of TV piracy occurs outside the U.S. It's mostly because of lack of availability to watch the shows online in a timely manner.

Making up 10|percent| of the total illegal downloads, Australia becomes the No. 1 country where TV piracy occurs. The U.S. ranks second with 9.7|percent| of the total illegal downloads, despite the fact that Americans are the first to see these favorite shows.

1. "Game of Thrones" - 4.28 million downloads
2. "Dexter" - 3.85 million downloads
3. "The Big Bang Theory" - 3.2 million downloads
4. "How I Met Your Mother" - 2.96 million downloads
5. "Breaking Bad" - 2.58 million downloads
6. "The Walking Dead" - 2.55 million downloads
7. "Homeland" - 2.4 million downloads
8. "House M.D." - 2.34 million downloads
9. "Fringe" - 2.28 million downloads
10. "Revolution" - 2.13 million downloads