• by Wayne Friedman , December 26, 2013

Following its 2012 performance, the most pirated TV show for all of 2013 was HBO’s “Game of Thrones” -- more than its illegal downloads of a year ago.

“Thrones” pulled in 5.9 million worldwide downloads (single episodes),  a bit higher than its U.S. average viewers on HBO -- 5.5 million.

TorrentFreak says more than half of its nearly 6 million downloads occurred in the first week after the show’s new season started. Much of U.S. TV piracy occurs outside the U.S, it notes. The company says its results are based on several sources, including download statistics reported by BitTorrent followers.

AMC’s “Breaking Bad” came in second place in 2013 at 4.2 million; followed by AMC’s “The Walking Dead” at 3.6 million. CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” is the most pirated U.S. broadcast network originated show -- 3.4 million.

Showtime’s “Dexter” was at 3.1 million downloads; CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” had 3.0 million; USA Network’s “Suits” comes next at 2.6 million; Showtime’s “Homeland” was in eighth place, at 2.4 million; History’s “Vikings”at 2.3 million; and CW’s “Arrow" with 2.2 million.

A year ago, “Thrones” -- at 4.3 million illegal downloads -- topped the list. In addition, many of the same shows in 2013 were on the top 10 list a year ago, as well as Fox’s “House” and “Fringe”  and NBC’s “Revolution.”

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