The popular Disney+ original, The Mandalorian, has unseated HBO’s Game of Thrones as the most pirated TV series of 2020. According to an analysis by Torrent Freak, they compile a list at the of the year with the most pirated TV episodes using sources and statistics that are reported by public bit torrent trackers. This ranking system only accounts for single episodes –full season downloads are not included.
For seven years, this list had crowned Game of Thrones as the top series for the most downloaded show of 2019. Now that it’s been over a year since the series ended, the title for the most torrented show is up for grabs which was taken by the Star Wars spinoff as the unlikely winner. During the first season run of The Mandalorian, it was the third most downloaded TV series according to the same survey.
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The competition for the top spot was fierce among three titles with second place going to Amazon prime’s The Boys and followed by HBO’s Westworld taking the third spot. Apart from the drastic change of the top three contenders, several newcomers that made the list were Star Trek: Picard and Outsider which both premiered in 2020.
The Mandalorian Takes The Cake
These top three shows have shown an uneven trend with how the streaming entertainment industry has become. In order to watch all three series, one needs to pay for three different subscription packages to gain access to these quality shows. Which explains why people turn to piracy since not every person can afford a subscription and pirating offers it at no extra cost. It’s worth mentioning that the data traffic collected by BitTorrent only makes up a small piece of the piracy scene.
Obviously, being the most pirated show of the year is not the greatest of accomplishments, but it reflects the popularity among general audiences whether they’re streaming it on paid or illegal platforms. It should be worth noting that with everyone staying home more than ever (due to a global pandemic) audiences are hungry for new quality content and escapism at their fingertips. Disney recently stated on their Investor Day, that the future of original content is internet streaming after reaching 80 million subscribers on their platform in December.
Source: Torrent Freak
