Game of Thrones season 8 debut was pirated 55 million times in one day

[Humza]

The big picture: Pirates seem to set sails further than ever as HBO's eagerly awaited Game of Thrones premiered last Sunday. Returning for its final season, the show quickly spread across illegal streaming services, download and torrent sites for people either unwilling or unable to pay HBO its due share.

According to analytics firm MUSO, the hit HBO show has yet to convince people to pay for their entertainment as nearly 55 million pirated views happened within the first 24 hours of the premiere going live.

Breaking down the piracy figures revealed illegal streams accounted for 76.6%, downloads 12.2% and torrents at just over 11% of the total views. What's interesting to note are the countries leading these figures where admittedly HBO is difficult to legitimately access.

India led the way with 10 million of these views and China, where a censored version is aired officially came in second with 5 million streams. Since HBO Now is unavailable outside of the US, it's likely that people opt for piracy instead of subscribing to their local pricey TV packages. Amusingly, the US stood third with just shy of 4 million views despite HBO's easy accessibility. It seems nothing beats the price of free.

With five more episodes to go, the viewership, both legit and pirated is likely to increase. Is it accessibility, cost, or both that has led to the current state of piracy?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/79714-game-thrones-season-8-debut-pirated-55-million.html

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I for one felt the episode was rushed.

#1 The Dragon ride stands at the top of my mind as filler material. "fluff".

#2 The revelation of Jon Snow's lineage wasn't handled well.

First of all: How did Tarly not know that his dad and brother were roasted alive by Daenery's dragons when it was well known to everyone who saw it and should have been carried by word of mouth immediately to the family keep - and ultimately to Sam?

Second: Jon's reaction to this was weak.

I could imagine it ending with him uttering:

"that means that Daenerys is my...gulp...auntie???"

#2 Cersei declared a death sentence to both Tyrion and Jaimie??? When did that happen?

Cersei doesn't want to just "kill" people...she wants to torture them to death. Especially Tyrion.

Am I to expect she'd simply have Tyrion shot with a crossbow?

Is she going to lie to Euron and claim it's his baby?

 

[brucek]

I know at least one person who both pays for HBO and downloads a copy via torrent (and buys the Blu-rays, and the books, and some merchandise, etc.)

I don't think it's necessarily one or the other. HBO Go is pretty good but nothing is more flexible and more capable than a local file, especially if you're trying to unify your media library under one consistent scheme.

 

[fps4ever]

What's interesting to note are the countries leading these figures where admittedly HBO is difficult to legitimately access. India led the way with 10 million of these views and China, where a censored version is aired officially came in second with 5 million streams. Since HBO Now is unavailable outside of the US, it's likely that people opt for piracy instead of subscribing to their local pricey TV packages.

If you refuse to modernize this is what happens. HBO is one of the worst and greediest at it to the point in losing a huge amount of revenue.

 

[ShagnWagn]

I wonder how they conjure up these false numbers. I did not see a link to the original article. It is quite obvious they are using it to infuriate the MPAA/RIAA to lash out. How many trillions of dollars are they going to claim is "lost" this time? Let's see... 55,000,000 "copies" x $250,000 fine for each one...

"a censored version is aired "
How do we get this in the U.S.? I'm sure there are thousands that might otherwise watch it. They are leaving a big chunk of money on the table. People won't subscribe to HBO for the fact alone how nasty their shows are. Cinemax, etc etc.

 

[Evernessince]

I for one felt the episode was rushed.

#1 The Dragon ride stands at the top of my mind as filler material. "fluff".

#2 The revelation of Jon Snow's lineage wasn't handled well.

First of all: How did Tarly not know that his dad and brother were roasted alive by Daenery's dragons when it was well known to everyone who saw it and should have been carried by word of mouth immediately to the family keep - and ultimately to Sam?

Second: Jon's reaction to this was weak.

I could imagine it ending with him uttering:

"that means that Daenerys is my...gulp...auntie???"

#2 Cersei declared a death sentence to both Tyrion and Jaimie??? When did that happen?

Cersei doesn't want to just "kill" people...she wants to torture them to death. Especially Tyrion.

Am I to expect she'd simply have Tyrion shot with a crossbow?

Is she going to lie to Euron and claim it's his baby?

Yeah, don't expect George RR martin levels of quality. Ever since they ran out of book content the pace has increased, the detail decreased, the lines worsened, and plot holes opened. I would have much preferred them to wait for the books to finish, even if it would take another decade.

 

[Panda218]

I had to get my father a local file cause Dish removed HBO and is telling customers to sign up for HBO Now. Unfortunately he lives in the middle of no where and his 4g connection cannot handle streaming. I offered to have the family over on Sundays to watch it, but he declined cause my mother is usually asleep at 8.

Sorry not sorry

 

[chollatta]

No sense in subscribing when they only have 2 good shows, True Detective and GoT.

 

[m4a4]

Yeah, there's no way I'm paying almost $20 a month here to watch 1 show.

The most convenient option wins!

 

[Hexic]

Yeah, there's no way I'm paying almost $20 a month here to watch 1 show.

The most convenient option wins!

Exactly. You want me to pay for your service? Make things worth watching, and don’t put your one Uber-successful show behind a high pay wall.

It’s Business 101.

 

[Kibaruk]

Yeah, there's no way I'm paying almost $20 a month here to watch 1 show.

The most convenient option wins!

They offer absolutely nothing but charge like they had all of the content netflix and amazon and all their exclusives, thanks but no thanks.

 

[bluetooth fairy]

Is it worth to give the GoT a second chance? I stopped watching it in the beginning of the 7th season, 'cuz earlier it felt differently .

They showed it on Fox HD here in my country. So I've got it with no additional costs, just among other digital channels on my cable TV. As far as I can see now, 8th season is on schedule either.

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

I for one felt the episode was rushed.

#1 The Dragon ride stands at the top of my mind as filler material. "fluff".

#2 The revelation of Jon Snow's lineage wasn't handled well.

First of all: How did Tarly not know that his dad and brother were roasted alive by Daenery's dragons when it was well known to everyone who saw it and should have been carried by word of mouth immediately to the family keep - and ultimately to Sam?

Second: Jon's reaction to this was weak.

I could imagine it ending with him uttering:

"that means that Daenerys is my...gulp...auntie???"

#2 Cersei declared a death sentence to both Tyrion and Jaimie??? When did that happen?

Cersei doesn't want to just "kill" people...she wants to torture them to death. Especially Tyrion.

Am I to expect she'd simply have Tyrion shot with a crossbow?

Is she going to lie to Euron and claim it's his baby?

Yeah, don't expect George RR martin levels of quality. Ever since they ran out of book content the pace has increased, the detail decreased, the lines worsened, and plot holes opened. I would have much preferred them to wait for the books to finish, even if it would take another decade.

Is he even working on the series anymore? I was at the store the other day and saw at least two other new books by him. I hope he doesn't just throw in the towel the final books because we've all seen the show.

 

[BigRedPDX]

Is it bad that I just start up a free trial of HBO Now before each new episode? I just use a card that will end up being declined anyway. lol

 

[Evernessince]

Is he even working on the series anymore? I was at the store the other day and saw at least two other new books by him. I hope he doesn't just throw in the towel the final books because we've all seen the show.

He is but I don't expect him to finish the series anytime soon. He is slow by nature and will likely take even longer then normal to wrap everything up.

 

[Mike89]

I also thought the 1st episode was weak. So far it looks like GOT is throwing the final 6 episodes out to milk the GOT fans, (which I'm not one of). I'm one of the pirating dudes. I'm just not giving HBO my money for their left wing agenda programming. I'll pirate it, watch it, delete it, and fogetaboutit.

 

[JamesJamesJames]

GOT got nerfed when it became a mainstream TV show because people were complaining about the content. Sex scenes, language, rape, violence, etc. Coupled with a lot of reasons already stated above!

 

[mattsie]

I had to get my father a local file cause Dish removed HBO and is telling customers to sign up for HBO Now. Unfortunately he lives in the middle of no where and his 4g connection cannot handle streaming. I offered to have the family over on Sundays to watch it, but he declined cause my mother is usually asleep at 8.

Sorry not sorry

Exactly. This is only one, out of many that had no other option to experience it the right way.

When a company is too big they just start telling you to live your life the way they want you to live it.

 

[j05hh]

Is it bad that I just start up a free trial of HBO Now before each new episode? I just use a card that will end up being declined anyway. lol

Good to know I'm not the only one.

 

[ShagnWagn]

I had to get my father a local file cause Dish removed HBO and is telling customers to sign up for HBO Now. Unfortunately he lives in the middle of no where and his 4g connection cannot handle streaming. I offered to have the family over on Sundays to watch it, but he declined cause my mother is usually asleep at 8.

Sorry not sorry

Exactly. This is only one, out of many that had no other option to experience it the right way.

When a company is too big they just start telling you to live your life the way they want you to live it.

Agreed. As does the Democratic/Liberal party. And nosy neighbors that can't mind their own business.

 

[mat9v]

One wonders, how many of those 55 mln who pirated the show, could have watched the show legally - since it was not available in most of Europe for example...
as long as there are companies that prevent people from enjoying shows legally, piracy will "prosper".

 

[bluetooth fairy]

Good to know I'm not the only one.

It appears that you have intentionally been using bank's good name to tell HBO that you are legal to obtain the service. Your card is associated with certain bank account, and your bank could process these transactions in accordance. That's what I believe how it should work. Even when they can't prevent these things, they should react accordingly, prosecution may happen later, and it probably will cast a shadow on your credit history.

I mean, when someone is systematically abusing the trust, then he'll go in the group of those who are not trustworthy. Sooner or later, depending on rules of bank or HBO.

 

[Edito]

If the services were available to everyone, none would have pirated that much.

 

[Sir Sparkles]

Apparently if I wait a year I can watch it legally here in Australia. They were even doing fluff news pieces specifically targeting naive GOT fans explaining how dangerous torrenting is and why we should wait a year and pay $$$'s to see it. Biggest pirated show on record this side you see.

Not a single fk was given. ;D