Netflix recently launched another exclusive on its video streaming service, this time bringing back a classic from the early 2000s, the critically acclaimed sitcom Arrested Development. Fifteen new episodes launched on May 26 and they are already quite popular on torrents, having been downloaded 100,000 times in the first 24 hours of availability, according to PaidContent.
For paying Netflix users, there is no reason to pirate the show, as it is available with the subscription just like all other video content on the service. As with the company's previous exclusive, House of Cards, every episode of Arrested Development was released in one shot, which also allowed the entire season to be pirated at once.
As it stands, this is actually the only gauge we have for how Arrested Development is doing in terms of popularity. While 100,000 is no where near the staggering million downloads Game of Thrones generated on torrents after its first episode aired, for a cult show that has been off the air for close to 10 years, it seems like a pretty large amount of people is interested in watching. Netflix has not released official viewership numbers in the past, so we might not get to learn exactly how popular the show is with users paying a subscription.
The numbers only cover the first 24 hours after release. The show has been available for three days now, so it's likely that the piracy numbers have grown ever more, though most of the hype came immediately after release.