HBO's "Game of Thrones" and AMC's "Breaking Bad" has earned the distinction as the most downloaded tv shows for 2013 on illegal file-sharing services according to TorrentFreak.
"Game of Thrones" is the number one most downloaded TV show, followed by "Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead"
According to TorrentFreak, the "Game of Thrones" is the most downloaded TV show for the second straight year. The show garnered 5.9 million downloads via BitTorrent. More than half of the downloads occurred in the first week after the show aired and the total exceeds the number of traditional viewers in the US.
"Breaking Bad" and "The Walking Dead" complete the top three with an estimated 4.2 and 3.6 million downloads respectively.
With over 170,000 people sharing an episode simultaneously, "Game of Thrones" breaks the record for most number of people sharing the same file.
Surprisingly enough, the high number of illegal downloads don't bother the show makers that much. Time Warner CEO, Jeff Bewkes said that "Game of Thrones" being pirated so much is "better than an Emmy" while director, David Petrarca was quoted saying that the show being pirated added to show's "cultural buzz" and "A Song of Ice and Fire" author George R.R. Martin saying that the huge number of downloads are "a compliment" to him, though it is something he didn't want to receive.
However, "The Walking Dead" executive producer Gale Anne Hurd, said that unauthorized or illegal downloads are not as good or helpful others claim they are.
Gale Anne Hurd was quoted saying "There's a mistaken belief by many of my peers that piracy is somehow good, that viewers will develop a habit to pay for it. I'm not sure they really understand other than anecdotal evidence that their ratings go up that the people who pirate are not then going to choose legal downloads or legal viewing in the future,"
Listed below are the most downloaded television shows (per episode) worldwide for 2013. Included in the list are the viewer averages in the US. This data is provided by TorrentFreak
Rank Show Est. Downloads Est. US TV Viewers
1 Game of Thrones 5,900,000 5,500,000
2 Breaking Bad 4,200,000 10,280,000
3 The Walking Dead 3,600,000 16,110,000
4 The Big Bang Theory 3,400,000 20,440,000
5 Dexter 3,100,000 2,800,000
6 How I met your Mother 3,000,000 9,400,000
7 Suits 2,600,000 3,520,000
8 Homeland 2,400,000 2,380,000
9 Vikings 2,300,000 6,000,000
10 Arrow 2,200,000 3,240,000
