MUSO reports that Game of Thrones season 7’s opener was pirated 91.74 million times. With 77.91 million downloads and streams of the first episode, streaming by far was the most popular way of accessing the season premiere. Torrenting nabbed the second spot with 8.36 million downloads and streams while downloading held on to third place with 4.95 million.
“There is no denying that these figures are huge, perhaps 5-10 times more than what we would have expected. So these figures likely to raise more than a few eyebrows, but they need to be looked at objectively. What we’re seeing here isn’t just P2P torrent downloads but unauthorised streams and every type of piracy around the premiere. This is the total audience picture, which often goes unreported,”
– MUSO CEO Andy Chatterley.
“Audience figures have always been a critical measure for studios and TV execs to assess the health of shows. The fact that almost 100 million people are watching Game of Thrones outside of the official channels, not only shows just how popular this show is but the massive opportunity to engage people and bring them back around to legitimate mediums.”
The US, UK and Germany top the chart for the most Game of Thrones piracy. The US with 15.08 million downloads and streams significantly surpassed the UK at 6.25 million. This is a massive audience lost from legal channels on release.
“Of course, Game of Thrones’ growing popularity over the seasons has been no secret, but the numbers here show the total audience across both legal and unlicensed channels, the complete picture which is often missing from audience figures and is likely to be far bigger than anyone anticipated. For anyone measuring an audience, it’s always worth bearing in mind that there may be a whole fan base out there that’s just being ignored,” continues Andy.
The piracy surrounding Game of Thrones is unlikely going to be unabating and will probably increase as the season continues.
MUSO will be tracking Game of Thrones piracy during the run of the season, so keep checking our blog for further updates on the real audience pictures as the series progresses.
Read our blog: MUSO ONLINE CONTENT PROTECTION PLATFORM LAUNCHES FOR ANTI-PIRACY TV
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