Game Of Thrones Takes The Crown For Most Pirated TV Show Of 2014

The results were in last week on the most pirated movie of 2014, and now, that same firm behind the data analysis has revealed the conclusive top ten list of their small screen equivalents. Where The Wolf Of Wall Street nabbed the number one slot on the movie list – in a sort-of unexpected result – the show sat at the top of TV’s list comes as no surprise whatsoever.

The findings, from piracy-tracking organization Excipio (via Variety), are a result of data collected between January 1st and Dec. 24, 2014 which monitors illegal torrent activity.

Sliding into the top spot with a colossal 48 million illegal downloads is HBO’s medieval fantasy saga, Game Of Thrones. The show’s fourth season dropped last April, and following its premiere, that one episode acquired record-breaking levels of torrent downloads.

Second on the list is AMC’s undead apocalypse smash, The Walking Dead. With 47 million downloads it comes in at just under a million less than Thrones.

You can check out the remainder of the list below:

1. “Game of Thrones”: 48.369 million (HBO)
2. “The Walking Dead”: 47.642 million (AMC)
3. “The Big Bang Theory”: 33.431 million (CBS)
4. “Arrow”: 29.296 million (CW)
5. “The Vampire Diaries”: 22.921 million (CW)
6. “Supernatural”: 21.201 million (CW)
7. “How I Met Your Mother”: 20.282 million (CBS)
8. “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”: 16.334 million (ABC)
9. “Suits”: 14.910 million (USA Network)
10. “The Blacklist”: 14.211 million (NBC)

One interesting addition to the above findings was the analysis of where exactly these downloads occur. From the results on offer, it appears that the majority of illegal torrent downloads stem from countries where the bulk of popular American TV shows are simply unable to view through normal, legal channels:

Brazil was home to the largest number of total downloads (28.4 million overall), followed by Russia (28.1 million), India (16 million), Australia (15.4 million), China (14.9 million) and the U.S. (14.4 million), according to Excipio.

With the return of HBO’s immensely-popular fantasy series set to begin this spring, will Game Of Thrones season five become the most pirated show of 2015? We’ve only a year to find out.