Game of Thrones Tops List of Most Pirated TV Shows of 2012

LOS ANGELES: With 4.28 million downloads for a single episode, Game of Thrones was the most pirated TV show of 2012, followed by last year’s number one, Dexter, according to TorrentFreak, which reports on Internet file-sharing.

In recent years, the number of TV show downloads had begun to level off, but 2012 saw a slight increase again. More than 80 percent of the piracy occurs outside the U.S., with lack of availability being cited as the primary reason that consumers turn to BitTorrent to download the content illegally.

Game of Thrones was particularly popular in Australia, where there is a week delay from the U.S. airing. Even in the U.S., however, hundreds and thousands downloaded the show for free, with many citing that they would pay for it if HBO offered a standalone HBO Go subscription.

Dexter, which was the most pirated show in 2011, had 3.85 million downloads. Next on the list was The Big Bang Theory, with 3.2 million; How I Met Your Mother, with 2.96 million; and Breaking Bad, with 2.58 million. Rounding out the top 10 were, in order, The Walking Dead, Homeland, House, Fringe and Revolution.