It may technically be a compliment, but I'm sure HBO isn't too happy about it.
"Game of Thrones" is apparently being illegally downloaded at an all-time high rate, according to Entertainment Weekly. EW spoke to piracy news blog TorrentFreak to figure out just how many people pirated the season five premiere. It turns out that the episode was downloaded 13 million times. For comparison, the amount of people illegally watching "Game of Thrones" dwarfs the viewership of shows like "Better Call Saul" and "The Americans." I'll give you a moment to pick your jaws up off the floors.
Ten percent of the downloads came from within the United States, more than any other country. The runners-up were France, Brazil, China, Russia, UK, India, Canada, Australia and Spain. Forget feeding the hungry or striving for world peace, nothing unites humanity like blood, gore and dragons.
One estimate pegged a loss of $44 million in U.S. revenue thanks to the illegal downloads.
HBO attempted to combat this issue before the debut of season five. The network aired the premiere at the same time across 170 different countries while also launching HBO Now, a stand-alone streaming service that does not require a cable subscription. The hope was that these increased viewing opportunities would cut down on piracy. Obviously, HBO's efforts did not produce the intended results.
On the plus side, the show's legal viewing is also breaking records as well. The season five premiere drew in 8 million live viewers, a number that will be bolstered once HBO tallies DVR playback.
(Side Note: For a closer look at the season's first two episodes be sure to check out HNGN's recaps HERE and HERE).
Season five has dealt with more piracy issues than any other season in the past. The first four episodes leaked onto BitTorrent shortly before the premiere. HBO has yet to identify the source of the leak publicly.
