14 DAY TRIAL // Game of Thrones' popularity on TV is only equaled, and in fact surpassed, by its popularity online, this despite the fact that the show is not legally available online.
The show is on its way to becoming the most downloaded TV show of the year and each episode gets as many as four million downloads within a week of it becoming available, just as many as watch it legally in the US on HBO.
Granted, the show is great and that accounts for its popularity, but a big factor is also the fact that most people can't get it legally and even those that do have to wait patiently for it to be aired in their country.
It's no wonder then that a lot of people turn to the pirate sites to get the latest episode. Australians seem to love the show the most, 10 percent of downloads, up to 400,000 people, come from the land down under. The show airs there one week after it's available in the US.
Understandably, the United States is second and close to Australia, with 9.7 percent of downloads as measured by TorrentFreak. HBO has close to 30 million subscribers in the US. About a tenth of those watch the show on TV. But there still are a few hundreds of thousands that get it online, illegally.
Canadians are eager watchers as well, 7.7 of downloads coming from this country, and the UK is close by with 7.6 percent. In total, the top 10 countries account for more than half of downloads.
When it comes to cities, London leads with 3.0 percent of downloads, more than Greece in its entirety. Sydney accounts for another 3.0 percent while Melbourne for 2.9 percent. Amsterdam stands for 2.2 percent, the same as Athens, followed by another Australian city, Perth with 1.8 percent.