HBO’s fantasy epic “Game of Thrones” has already been crowned the most pirated show of the year. The March 31 premiere of the third season set a new piracy record, with more than 1 million individual downloads on BitTorrent in the first 24 hours after the episode aired.
Based on the George R.R. Martin series "A Song of Ice and Fire," the show has been steadily gaining in popularity since its 2011 debut. The number of HBO viewers who tuned in for Sunday’s premiere—4.4 million—is twice the number who watched the Season 1 premiere back in April of 2011. Driven by positive critical reviews and a blogging community hungry for spoilers and information about the show’s newly popular cast, “Game of Thrones” has transformed into a truly global phenomenon.
The astounding number of illegal downloads can be explained in part by the delayed air date for international viewers, who have to wait up to a week for new episodes to reach their local markets. The show’s popularity with the 18-49 demographic, who may be less inclined to shell out $16 every month for an HBO subscription, is another factor. Yet despite unprecedented levels of piracy and a $50 million budget per season, DVD sales and subscribers ensure that “Game of Thrones” remains the network’s top money-earner on a per-season basis.
Like the studio executives behind other fantasy franchises such as Harry Potter and The Hobbit, the show’s creators seem intent on prolonging its popularity and its revenue stream by spreading the content of their dense source material thin. Both of the first two seasons are tied to a specific book, but the third breaks that mold. Because book three, “A Storm of Swords,” tops out at over 1100 pages, the producers chose to divide its content across two seasons to give key plotlines sufficient airtime to unfold.
In an announcement today, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo confirmed that the show has been renewed for a fourth season. Given the show’s financial and critical success, this comes as little surprise. Yet in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lombardo expressed appreciation for the support of fans who are not contributing to HBO’s coffers. “It is a compliment of sorts,” Lombardo said, referring to the high number of illegal downloads. “[Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.”
It’s better to join them than fight them, after all.
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