“I will take what is mine with fire and blood!”—or maybe just with illegal downloads.
TorrentFreak is reporting that Game of Thrones was the most pirated show for the spring season with 5.2 million downloads. That is significantly higher than the Big Bang Theory, which came in at second with 2.9 million.
Interestingly, the Hollywood Reporter noted, the number of downloads is almost equivalent to Game of Thrones’ legal viewing audience (5.5 million). The Big Bang Theory, on the other hand, averages about 20 million viewers per episode—nearly seven times the number of illegal downloads.
Game of Thrones made headlines earlier this year when the season three finale broke the record for the most simultaneous shares on BitTorrent. It was also the most pirated show for all of 2012.
Other series that appear on the list of the most downloaded shows include newcomers Hannibal, Vikings and Arrow, all of which debuted during the 2012 – 13 season. They join established series like How I Met Your Mother, the Walking Dead and Revenge.
The full list can be found below.
1. Game of Thrones (5.2 million downloads; 5.5 million viewers)
2. The Big Bang Theory (2.9 million downloads; 20 million viewers)
3. How I Met Your Mother (2.85 million downloads; 10.5 million viewers)
4. The Walking Dead (2.7 million downloads; 12.4 million viewers)
5. Hannibal (2.1 million downloads; 4.4 million viewers)
6. Vikings (1.9 million downloads; 6.2 million viewers)
7. Arrow (1.85 million downloads; 4.1 million viewers)
8. The Vampire Diaries (1.8 million downloads; 3.2 million viewers)
9. Modern Family (1.75 million downloads; 12.5 million viewers)
10. Revenge (1.7 million downloads; 9.7 million viewers)