More than five million people illegally downloaded each episode of the HBO medieval series last spring.
- Jun 24, 2013
AceShowbiz - "Game of Thrones" once again affirms its status as one of the most-watched TV shows as proven by the number of people who illegally downloaded it. According to TorrentFreak, 5.2 million people downloaded each episode of the HBO medieval series, making it the most-pirated show of the spring season by far. It's almost as many as people who watched the show on the paid cable channel (5.5 million) in the latest season.
The critically-acclaimed series was also the most illegally downloaded TV series of 2012. At the time, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo saw it as "a compliment of sorts." He added, "The demand is there. And it certainly didn't negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network."
In the newest list, "Thrones" is followed by popular comedies "The Big Bang Theory" (2.9 million) and "How I Met Your Mother" (2.85 million) at No. 2 and No. 3 respectively. AMC's "The Walking Dead" places fourth with 2.7 million downloads, and freshman "Hannibal" trails behind with 2.1 million.
Top 10 Most Pirated TV Shows in Spring 2013: