Game of Thrones most-pirated show in 2016
January 3, 2017
By Colin Mann
File-sharing site TorrentFreak has analysed the most-pirated TV shows of 2016 through BitTorrent, with Game of Thrones claiming the dubious honour for the fifth year in a row.
The site reports that traffic-wise, the interest was roughly on par with 2015. The highest number of people actively sharing an episode across several torrents was 350,000 at its peak, which occurred directly after the season finale became available online.
A popular new entry was science-fiction western Westworld, which rapidly gained popularity in pirate circles, claiming third spot.
TorrentFreak analysis also noted a continuation of the trend of downloaders showing an increased interest in high-quality video, with many pirates moving in recent years from 480p copies to 720p and 1080p videos, partly because of better broadband availability.
Most downloaded TV-shows on BitTorrent, 2016
| Rank | 2015 | Show |
| 1 | (1) | Game of Thrones |
| 2 | (2) | The Walking Dead |
| 3 | (…) | Westworld |
| 4 | (5) | The Flash |
| 5 | (4) | Arrow |
| 6 | (3) | The Big Bang Theory |
| 7 | (7) | Vikings |
| 8 | (…) | Lucifer |
| 9 | (10) | Suits |
| 10 | (…) | The Grand Tour |