Among cable networks, HBO saw the most piracy, with 381,952 users worldwide and 38,330 users in the US illegally sharing HBO content daily.
CEG TEK International (CEG TEK), a provider of in-depth business intelligence and comprehensive anti-piracy solutions, tracked piracy rates of 175 hit shows on cable, broadcast and OTT networks. In a report, CEG TEK revealed that in excess of 3.7 million unique peers (users) worldwide illegally shared those TV shows daily using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network.
HBO’s Game of Thrones is also the world’s most pirated TV series at the moment, with 289,310 unique users worldwide.
HBO is followed close behind by AMC with 301,601 worldwide daily and 29,773 in the US, and FX with 138,084 worldwide and 23,516 in the US. Other networks with significant piracy rates include Showtime, History Channel, Comedy Central, Starz, A&E, USA and BBC America.
Among broadcast networks, CBS led with 619,157 P2P users illegally sharing shows like The Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother daily around the world. ABC was next at 573,016 worldwide, followed by CW (373,750), FOX (360,041) and NBC (256,191).
Alternative or Over-the-Top (OTT) networks are also included in the report, with original content such as Netflix’s House of Cards and Orange is the New Black seeing the most illegal activity. Overall, Netflix saw an average of 87,790 users accessing their content illegally on a daily basis worldwide.
“Some network executives have responded to the fact that their shows are being pirated with a lack of real concern, but if they look at the potential revenue they could have made, they might think again,” said Kyle Reed, Co-Founder and COO, CEG TEK.
“Even in a conversative estimate, say 10% of the 3.7 million illegal P2P shares that we tracked, if those shows were purchased at a flat rate of $2.99 per download, we looking at over $11 million in potential revenue lost daily.”
The most pirated shows are as follows, with first the number of international share, followed by the US figure:
1. HBO 381,952 – 38,088
Boardwalk Empire 18,755 – 1,927
Entourage 5,108 – 736
Game Of Thrones 289,310 – 27,425
Rome 3,171 – 306
Silicon Valley 10,652 – 2,064
The Newsroom 3,491 – 484
True Blood 8,667 -1,615
True Detective 37,525 – 2,792
Veep 5,273 – 981
2. AMC 301,601 – 29,773
Breaking Bad 112,221 – 6,314
Mad Men 38,351 – 5,951
The Walking Dead 140,960 – 15,991
Turn 10,069 – 1,517
3. FX 138,084 – 23,516
American Horror Story 33,880 – 4,261
Anger Management 14,375 – 1,025
Archer 29,257 – 7,975
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia 6,491 – 1,531
Justified 18,862 – 3,879
Legit 4,875 – 919
Louie 3,751 – 382
Sons of Anarchy 24,619 – 3,213
Terriers 187 – 16
Wilfred 1,787 – 315
4. Showtime 127,798 – 12,492
Californication 37,831 – 3,693
Dexter 32,766 – 3,208
Homeland 39,515 – 2,642
Nurse Jackie 875 – 209
Ray Donovan 1,672 – 197
Shameless US 14,376 – 2,442
Weeds 763 – 101
5. History 68,463 – 5,022
Top Gear 16,704 – 1,529
Vikings 51,759 – 3,493
6. Comedy Central 63,282 – 9,062
Futurama 9,958 – 849
South Park 30,310 – 2,836
The Colbert Report 5,552 – 954
The Daily Show 5,294 – 834
Workaholics 12,168 – 3,589
7. Starz 59,333 – 4,456
Black Sails 23,817 – 2,010
Da Vincis Demons 34,986 – 2,413
Spartacus: War of the Damned 530 – 33
8. A&E 49,848 – 7,847
Bates Motel 49,848 – 7,847
9. USA 39,951 – 2,654
Burn Notice 3,211 – 518
Psych 1,044 – 277
Royal Pains 311 – 37
Suits 35,385 – 1,822
10. BBC America 35,865 – 4,344
Doctor Who 25,098 – 3,760
Frankie 43 – 4
The Musketeers 10,724 -580
The complete report, entitled Top TV Show P2P Piracy Report including results for all 175 TV shows, can be found here.
