There’s been lots of hand-wringing these past couple of years about how those sneaky Millennials will just cut the cord and download whatever they want for free and watch it on their computers or sling it to their TVs. But it looks like the Big Four networks, at least, don’t have much to worry about right now.
Piracy news site Torrent Freak crunched the numbers, and 2013’s list of most-pirated TV shows is dominated by the cable nets.
“Game of Thrones” was the most pirated show of 2013, with an estimated 5.9 million downloads, more than it’s estimated U.S. viewership of 5.5 million.
Torrent Freak noted that HBO could be sealing its own fate an encouraging piracy by locking down its show and requiring viewers to be HBO subscribers to watch. Unlike other entries on the list, “Thrones” isn’t available via Netflix or other streaming services.
“Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead” came in 2nd and 3rd, while “The Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother,” were the only shows in the top ten from one of the major broadcast networks.
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Read More: Torrent FreakBrief Take: Networks that refuse to accommodate viewers who want alternatives to their own app and linear options are playing with fire in 2014. Savvy viewers will just find the show for free, and the most popular shows could see their ratings take a back seat to the downloaders.
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