Popular torrent site Torrent Freak has released its list of the most pirated shows of 2015, and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, Game Of Thrones comes out on top for the fourth year running.
Rather than the total number of downloads, the Top 10 list is based off the one single episode of each show that was snatched the greatest number of times.
For Thrones, this episode was the season five finale, which had an estimated 14.4 million downloads via BitTorrent, most of these in the first week after it aired.
This number is significant in that it actually outstrips the number of people who watched the show on traditional TV in the U.S., estimated to be around 8.11 million viewers.
Thrones easily trounced second-placed show The Walking Dead, which topped out at 6.9 million downloads for a single episode, and Big Bang Theory, which came in at 4.4 million.
Superhero shows proved extremely popular, with Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl all cracking the Top 10. Hugely-hyped new series Mr Robot came in at number six, and like Thrones, appears to have been pirated more than it was legally watched.
As Torrent Freak point out, their figures don’t capture data from sources like online file hosting and illegal streaming, so the actual numbers could well be significantly higher. That said, the full list looks a little something like:
1. Game of Thrones, 14.4. million
2. The Walking Dead, 6.9 million
3. The Big Bang Theory, 4.4 million
4. Arrow, 3.9 million
5. The Flash, 3.6 million
6. Mr. Robot, 3.5 million
7. Vikings, 3.3 million
8. Supergirl, 3 million
9. The Blacklist, 2.9 million
10. Suits, 2.6 million
Story: Torrent Freak
