Game Of Thrones Tops The Hittorrent Charts Again

Game of Thrones is Most Pirated TV Show For Second Year - The Escapist

Well, in a big surprise to next to no-one Game Of Thrones is the most downloaded show via Bittorrent for the second year running, and the response from the head of HBO was somewhat surprising.

Jeff Hawkes was quoted as saying this level of piracy was "better than an emmy" due to it leading to more subscriptions and of course DVD/Blu-ray sales further down the track.

Despite being one of the world's most popular show GoT remains severely limited when it comes to options to watch it as it screens.  A HBO exclusive in the US (and therefore only available on more expensive premium cable packages) and only available for streaming on HBO Go (which still requires a HBO subscription) with even more limitations in Australia, despite QuickFlix and Apple trying to offer same day streaming.  HBO even refused every offer made by Netflix (Torrent Freak) to stream the earlier seasons to a wider audience.

Over and over, year after year, the most popular shows top the download charts.  These aren't shows that are suffering for legitimate viewers, they simply do not have a delivery method that meets the full demand.

For a list of the full top 10 hittorrent shows of the year head over to the Torrent Freak version of this story.

Breaking Bad - The Latest Hittorrent Show!

Breaking Bad Creator Admits Illegal Downloads Helped The TV Show - Gizmodo Australia

It seems more and more creators of shows that reach the top of the file sharing charts are accepting that if it wasn't for unauthorised downloads then their shows would not be as popular.  Given limited distribution and the restrictive content deals restricting viewing even further it seems that peer to peer downloads are now the best way to get the word out.  With shows like Game of Thrones, Walking Dead and Breaking Bad consistently topping the download charts, which then drives sales of the premium DVD and Blu-ray box sets I hereby propose a new term...

Hittorrent...

Come on, it makes perfect sense and you know it!

Spread the word, and when the next big hittorrent show comes along we'll all be ready for it!

Netflix Is More Popular Than Piracy Because Piracy

In The US, Netflix Checks With Pirates To Decide Which Shows To Buy - Gizmodo Australia

For a while now Netflix traffic has been exceeding bittorrent traffic in North America and showing it is possible to compete with free. A principle reason is that it provides a service at a decent price that is easier than piracy, but could there be something else.

At the launch of Netflix Netherlands the head of content acquisition Kelly Merryman has come right out and said they look at the most popular targets for piracy and then see if they can acquire the rights. Obviously there are some shows that the current right holders don't want to share with anybody else *cough* Game Of Thrones *\cough * but the sheer popularity of the service and its impact on piracy on its home turf shows they are onto something.

Of course for markets where Netflix is not available it really is a moot point, hence why shows like the aforementioned Game Of Thrones and Breaking Bad are downloaded mercilessly in Australia.

With content for Australia being either locked up in exclusivity deals or simply not being made available what can you do?

I'll just leave this here.