The numbers are in, these are the 10 most pirated TV shows of 2015. This year’s list saw some shakeups but the #1 show stayed firmly at the top, pulling in an estimated 14 MILLION illegal downloads (compared to 8.1 million estimated TV viewers). That show is of course HBO’s Game of Thrones, the greatest show in the history of television. Of the top 10 there were only 2 other shows where the number of illegal downloads surpassed the number of actual TV viewers, those shows were Mr. Robot and Suits…Here’s how the rest of the ‘Top 10 Most Pirated/Downloaded Shows of 2015’ list shakes out…
The 10 Most Pirated TV Shows Of 2015
Rank Show Est. Downloads Est. US TV Viewers
1 Game of Thrones 14,400,000 8,110,000
2 The Walking Dead 6,900,000 15,780,000
3 The Big Bang Theory 4,400,000 18,300,000
4 Arrow 3,900,000 3,920,000
5 The Flash 3,600,000 4,010,000
6 Mr. Robot 3,500,000 1,750,000
7 Vikings 3,300,000 5,010,000
8 Supergirl 3,000,000 12,960,000
9 The Blacklist 2,900,000 10,110,000
10 Suits 2,600,000 2,380,000
Two things led to me walking away from bittorrent downloads forever: (1) I got 2 strikes from Time Warner in the form of two letters saying I’d been flagged for illegal bittorrent usage, and if I got a third strike my service would be canceled and (2) the demise of Demonoid (though it is back now), the site that was once the greatest and safest hub for bittorrent on the planet. After the Ukraine took down Demonoid as a show of good faith to the United States I was done, but it’s not like I ever really used it for anything highly illegal in the first place, the way I used bittorrent truly was a victimless crime and this is something that the ISPs and TV networks might not ever understand.
I pay for HBO, SHO, Cinemax, and just about every other channel on TV. The primary reason I ever bittorrent was to watch TV shows while on planes, trains, and automobiles…a service that’s only recently been offered from the networks.
As for the list of ‘top 10 most pirated shows’ I’m almost ashamed to admit that I still haven’t watched Mr. Robot or Vikings, two shows that even the surliest of TV reviewers agree are amazing. Thinking 2016 will be my year to catch up on TV. And for those of you bros that are huge into Game of Thrones I hope you’re stoked to see the return of my GoT recaps that have been known to get up to 10,000 words per episode…because we’re only 3.5 months away from the season premiere!