Think it’s difficult to keep the citizens of Meereen in line?
Try getting people to watch your show in a legal manner!
Despite the presence of HBO Now – premium cable’s first stand-along streaming service that doesn’t require one to subscribe to HBO – a new report indicates that more viewers then ever before are pirating episodes of Game of Thrones.
According to TorrentFreak (via Entertainment Weekly), Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 1 was downloaded illegally over 13 million times, setting a record for the beloved drama.
A bulk of those downloads (10 percent) came from within United States, more than any other country (with France, Brazil, China, Russia, UK, India, Canada, Australia and Spain also high on the list).
By one estimate, these acts resulted in $44 million in lost U.S. revenue for the Game of Thrones Season 5 premiere alone.
Game of Thrones is (by far) the most pirated series on television, making us wonder what sort of ratings it would pull in if people actually watched the show legally.
The season 5 opener garnered a record 8 million live viewers on HBO.
Game of Thrones Season 5 Episode 3 airs this Sunday at 9/8c.