4 years and running
It should come as no surprise to anyone that Game of Thrones once again takes the crown for being the most pirated show of the year. Especially considering that this is the fourth year in a row they achieve such a task, but the popularity is still sky high.
According to TorrentFreak, the GOT season five finale got 4.4 million downloads worldwide, more than double of any other series (The Walking Dead only got 6.9 million as runner up), making it the most downloaded show of the year, overall. Even with all this piracy, the show reached record ratings, which attracted around 20 million viewers per episode when every form of legal viewing was counted and a monstrous 12 awards at this year’s EMMYs.
HBO has been taking steps to combat piracy, setting up HBO Now for those who don’t have a cable subscription and still wanted to watch content from the network. They also switched up the way they send early DVD screeners out to critics, switching to an online preview after the first four episodes leaked early before the season premiered.
As 2016 draws nearer, you know it’s about to get lit yet again.
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