Fifteen percent of streaming users borrow passwords, while 7% watch pirated shows or movies and 4% do both.
The increasingly fragmented streaming environment has accelerated an already serious problem.
Among regular TV sports viewers, 83% access illegal pirated streaming content at least once a week across the globe either paid-for or free, a recent report finds. The Middle East and North Africa
have the highest rates of sports pirated content. "With more than half of all fans regularly watching sports content from pirate sources, the industry faces a pressing challenge to reduce illegal
consumption and protect the value of sports rights," say the authors of the report.
According to a study released Thursday by the Digital Citizens Alliance and technology firm NAGRA, about 9 million fixed U.S. broadband subscribers currently subscribe to at least one of 3,500 online
"storefronts" retailing Internet Protocol TV services, which enable consumers to stream and download pirated copyrighted movies and TV programming.
Data from some 6,000 accounts were available for purchase in 15 different marketplaces on the open and dark web, said the company. says video software provider Synamedia
It may be the media industry's worst kept secret that a murky area of piracy persists -- streaming service subscribers sharing passwords with people who do not live in their households -- but a new
consumer survey by the equity research team at Raymond James puts some dimension around it. While the national survey is self-reported, about a third (32%) of Americans now acknowledge the behavior.