The Game of Thrones is probably on of most popular original series HBO has ever produced.
However, since the show isn’t offered anywhere other than HBO/Go (and DVD), quite a number of technologically savvy fans have turned to BitTorrent for new episodes.
According to analytics firm Big Champagne, episodes from the second season of the show have been downloaded 25 million times since it began airing in early April.
Indeed, Game of Thrones piracy hit its peak after April 30th, with more than 2.5 million pirate downloads in a single day.
“It certainly appears to be the most pirated show of the year,” says John Robinson, a senior media analyst with Big Champagne.
“The fact that it’s consistently at the top of the Pirate Bay’s top one hundred TV show chart seems like a pretty in-your-face leading indicator of the huge volume at which this is being shared.”
The high level of piracy for the latest season of Game of Thrones comes as little surprise to the industry. To be sure, the premiere season last year was the second most pirated show the year, right behind pay-TV program Dexter. Forbes also points out that the number downloaded episodes may be even higher than believed – as online streaming options for watching the show are more difficult to track.
“This is absolutely a reaction to the show’s not being available elsewhere online,” explains Robinson. “It’s a very tricky game trying to create this kind of scarcity.”
