Telly addicts hailed the return of Game of Thrones this Easter weekend with the fantasy serial drama embarking on its third season on Sunday on telly network HBO in the United States with Sky Atlantic airing the new episode in the UK just a day later. With the season premiere now in hindsight, the award-winning series has picked up another accolade – one that recognises Game of Thrones as the most pirated television show online.
With the episode screened Stateside within hours no less than one million rip-off torrent files of the exciting Game of Thrones Season 3 premiere had illegally changed hands across the web by those eager to follow the continuing story of Houses Stark, Lannister and Targaryen. This actually overtakes the number of those watching the legitimate broadcast as it happened.
But with online piracy believed to be becoming increasingly damaging for many forms of entertainment, surprisingly the company behind the show, HBO isn’t that fussed at a legion of fans unlawfully viewing its hugely popular show. They actually consider it a compliment.
Entertainment Weekly has shared comments from network President Michael Lombardo who states that demand for Game of Thrones is at an all-time high and illegal downloads does not ‘negatively impact DVD sales’. His only concern is that the copies traded illegally are generally of a poor quality. He says ‘The production values of this show are so incredible. So I’m hoping that in the purloined different generation of cuts that the show is holding up.’
For us Brit Throne fans, Sky Atlantic kindly delivers the latest episodes at 9pm the next night following the U.S airing so there’s no big wait that would warrant a dodgy download for digital telly subscribers – and who doesn’t enjoy those epic landscapes and brutal battles in stunning Blu-Ray!