Games of Thrones is most-pirated TV show of 2013

Games of Thrones is the most-pirated TV show of 2013, beating out AMC’s Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead, which ranked second and third, respectively.

According to TorrentFreak, HBO’s Games of Thrones – based on author George R.R. Martin’s fantasy novels – easily topped the list after the Season 3 finale was downloaded 5.9 million times, half a million more than the 5.4 million viewers that tuned in to watch the episode on television.

Breaking Bad, which ended its five-season run last fall, was estimated to have been downloaded 4.2 million times, while an estimated 10.28 million viewers tuned in to watch the unspecified episode.

An episode of Walking Dead was estimated to have been downloaded 3.6 million times, and watched by over 16.1 million viewers.

Games of Thrones previously beat its own piracy record last June, when 171,572 people shared the HBO series’ Season 3 finale simultaneously, compared to the 163,088 simultaneous fileshares for the Season 3 premiere.

Top 10 most-pirated TV shows of 2013:

1. Game of Thrones (5.9 million)

2. Breaking Bad (4.2 million)

3. The Walking Dead (3.6 million)

4. The Big Bang Theory (3.4 million)

5. Dexter (3.1 million)

6. How I Met Your Mother (3 million)

7. Suits (2.6 million)

8. Homeland (2.4 million)

9. Vikings (2.3 million)

10. Arrow (2.2 million)