ShowInsider Ranks Pirated TV-Shows
Written by Ernesto on November 04, 2008BitTorrent is the main distribution method for TV-shows online. Despite the availability of legitimate streaming sites, millions of people prefer to download their favorite TV-shows using torrents instead. ShowInsider is a new project that reveals the latest TV piracy trends.
Previously, we have shown that approximately 50% of all the people who use BitTorrent at any given point in time, are downloading TV-episodes. Whether it’s someone trying to catch up on a missed episode, or a fan who wants to see his favorite TV-show before it airs in his or her country, BitTorrent is the preferred method of distribution.
The Internet has changed the way we interact with media, and there is a whole new generation that no longer accepts that TV-broadcasters can decide when they have to watch TV, and where. The major broadcasters are slowly realizing this, with the emphasis on slowly. One thing we know first hand, is that they are interested in the statistics on these pirated downloads, and with ShowInsider, they have another tool to find out what the most recent download trends are.
ShowInsider lists the most downloaded TV-episodes for every week, along with upward and downward trend lists. This weeks list, for example, shows that ‘Heroes’ is downloaded the most. ‘Gossip Girl’ is leading the upward trend chart, while ‘Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ has dropped the most. In addition to the weekly lists, ShowInsider also offers an alphabetical list of all the episodes they index, including those not featured in the weekly charts.
Every TV-show has its own details page, where more information is available, including graphical representation of the health of the downloads and the fanbase of the show. The data ShowInsider reports is based on all downloads of a particular show, in contrast to TorrentFreak’s TV-show data, which is limited to the most recent episode of each show. A combination of both methods provides additional insight, and from now on we will report both our own and ShowInsider’s ranking.
ShowInsider is a project of Mark Thompson, who also runs AnalogX. Mark told us that (for now) his data comes from users of the open BitTorrent-based protocol, since that’s where most people download TV-shows from nowadays. For ShowInsider, he uses an immense database, which grows by 1 GB a day. “I’m a big believer in the ‘Law of Large Numbers’, meaning that the more samples you’re able to take of something, hopefully the less margin for error that you have,” Mark told us. “The trick with tracking P2P is that there is so much data out there, that if you don’t have a large sampling set it’s really easy to get data that’s skewed.”
The database used to compile the rankings on ShowInsider is not limited to TV-shows. In the future, Mark hopes to expand his BitTorrent trending into other areas, games or movies for example. “When I began the design and architecture of the backend of ShowInsider, I wanted something that would be able to scale and evolve to whatever type of content I was interested in,” Mark told us. “What I was interested in at the very beginning was TV shows – I always checked out the top 10 list from TorrentFreak and thought it was cool, but what I really wanted was a way to find out what other shows were popular that I might like.”
ShowInsider is a great and accurate resource to find out what the popular TV-shows are on BitTorrent, and how this evolves over time. It is a great addition to our own data, and provides some additional insight into the ever changing TV-torrent landscape. We are delighted to work with Mark, and hope others, including TV-broadcasters, will find the site useful as well.
Previously: BitTorrent Sites Step Closer to Legality in Spain
Next: RIAA CEO Backs John McCain
35 Responses
Piracy is theft.
This is an awesome new service. Coming from AnalogX this gives me additional confidence as I’ve been a fan for a long time!
hold ur big fat mouth….bastard
to anonymous
@1, nice try troll.
Hey TF,
Does this mean that your weekly listings for TV shows and movies will stop?
Hope not, I rather liked it.
“that the more samples you’re able to take of something, hopefully the less margin for error that you have”
In addition, you must take the samples the right way. You can have a biased/skewed data set even if it is large. It does not matter how big your sample is if it is biased. Hopefully, they will have good sampling methods as well.
@1
No, it isn’t. That is all.
Roze
http://www.10ch.org/
Haha I was jk its not theft, its copying.
There is a difference.
The record companies pay me to be a troll on here so whatever its easy money, dont take it too seriously they all have there heads up there asses.
i am a gentleman thief- just like ocean’s 11.
which i just downloaded.
theft is, if you have something, I take it and you don’t have it anymore.
Torrenting is automagically makes this thing to two things so we both have the joy of using it ;)
did none of your parents teach you not to take things that aren’t yours?
the big corporations are greedy but you pirates are even greedier. immature, anarchistic entitlement whores with social phobias, vampire complexions and in the case of your swedish goblin-looking messiahs…god awful snaggle tooth dental work.
right now, the internet is the wild west and just like the wild west, one day the law will come and take it back from the bandits and bushwhackers and you greedy little nerds will have to run for cover.
congratulations on doing your part to hasten the 1984 scenario. give yourself a clap on the back. you deserve it.
Does this site take into the account the fact that the shows aren’t always shown every week anyway. It doesn’t show the up/down trends clearly otherwise if this isn’t factored in somehow.
No one can download a show if it’s stopped for a week, (which happens pretty often).
http://www.ramsinks.com/htpc/
@10
Copyright law is what is turning the internet more into a 1984 scenario.
Roze
Ernesto, could you please remove the random anti-piracy comments? Not that only pro-piracy opinions should be allowed, but these are just blatant trolling. I say remove them unless they are on topic, regarding the article.
This will let me know which shows to actually watch since I never watch them on prime time television anyway.
http://www.p2ptechtime.com
@#13
No. Not quite. The copyright lobby’s RESPONSE to your theft is what’s turning the world into 1984.
I hate it how you pirates yank on the dragons tail then act all surprised and self righteous when it retaliates.
Cause and effect, moron. You are the cause. They are the effect.
how can you say piracy is theft, sure we download the stuff but where not taking it from anyone.
Remember:
Piracy is not theft, it just making a copy of the original and its environmentally friendly!!!
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w240/TwoPerfect/funny/6akm2kh.jpg
@16
That’s right. “The copyright lobby’s RESPONSE.” Ultimately they are the ones turning the internet into 1984. The copyright lobby’s response is the cause. 1984 is the effect. If they never responded, then it would not be 1984. Cause and effect, moron.
Roze
@16
preventing piracy is not an acceptable excuse for introducing universial survailence and can thus not be blamed on pirates. If you accept it as an excuse it is you who are to blame for allowing it.
The times, are changing. information no longer can, nor should be, controlled, so you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone.
You will notice that it is not the artist that are fighting piracy, many of them openly embrace it. It is the businessmen that fight it because piracy has made their method of distribution obslete. It’s like abacus makers trying to outlaw computers because they are losing profit.
@19 and everyone else
In my opinion, the current culture needs to be replaced by a noncommercial community-based derivative works culture, don’t you think the same as well?
Roze
@Roze
not sure what that means exactly, but I just think that culture should be allowed to take it’s own course, and that information should be free. What you suggest sounds to me like it should somehow be institutionalized or that it should not be allowed to make money from it. If this is the case, then no I don’t think the same.
@21
How does it sound institutionalized? A community-based culture is the perfect example of an insurgent culture, which can take place when copyright is gone. People would be allowed to make money, but I think that in such a culture, people would choose not to.
Need I give you an example? Here is an example of a “derivative work” made by a random individual:
http://www.geocities.jp/i26k4i3/istspring/no17.html
Roze
@roze
not sure if that’s what I want to set as the standard for a new copyright free culure, but damn, that was a hard game.
I think we can do much better. I think in the long run, free information will enhance culture, not harm it.
@23
There is bound to be a plentitude of culture once it is copyright-free. For it to be copyright-free is essentially the de-institutionalization of culture. I do not think that there needs to be any “standard” – people just do what they want in what they create. Not an institutionalized culture, but just people doing their own thing. In the long run, letting culture be free, so that people can create whatever derivative works they want, is what shall enhance culture.
Roze
@23
Well, to complete my thought: such a copyright-free culture should be free to do its own thing, since it will be the individual rather than the industry that is creating it. There shall be no “standard” imposed on such subjective matters, but each person doing their own thing.
Indeed, free information shall enhance culture – I think that the most important positive effect is the blurring of the line between audience and creator, so that anyone can just jump in and “be a part of the community of a part of culture” or something like that. Thus, it is the democratization of culture itself – not by the people merely just choosing what is good or bad, but the people creating it themselves.
Roze
Its “The copyright lobby’s RESPONSE”
You make it sound like they were sitting on their hands all this time and just kicked in after downloading started.
Nice joke, talk to letterman about having you on the show.
As for the whole dumb downloading is stealing:
http://ezee.se/articles-blog/2008/03/20/downloading-is-stealing/
and
http://ezee.se/articles-blog/2008/03/23/download-if-you-love-your-mom-and-increase-her-love-for-you-plus-its-good-for-the-environment/
Great tool, see that spooks is high-up in the trending up chart, like that! just saw E3-4 online, pre released I suppose.
@1
Theif: Steals orginal
Pirate: Makes copy of orginal
So piracy isnt stealing, its piracy.
“I hate it how you pirates yank on the dragons tail then act all surprised and self righteous when it retaliates.”
AHAHAHAHA!!
You’re comparing the copyright lobby to some kind of fearful dragon? Dear, are you unaware of their long track record of astonishing failure in their inherently futile “war” against filesharing?
Yanking on a dragon’s tail. That just makes me chuckle, ’cause it’s more like punting a crippled chihuahua.
@25 Roze: “Well, to complete my thought: such a copyright-free culture should be free to do its own thing, since it will be the individual rather than the industry that is creating it. There shall be no “standard” imposed on such subjective matters, but each person doing their own thing.”
We already have an example of this: internet + free web hosting. God know this has bought us SO MANY GREAT WEBSITES made by RANDOM PEOPLE.
Not.
Give it up you communist retard.
“Give it up you communist retard.”
Give it up?
Sorry, but we already have a copyright-free culture.
The lobbyists and politicians just haven’t cought up yet.
And apparently neither have you. Say, do your Mommy and Daddy know you’re using the internet?
#10
“did none of your parents teach you not to take things that aren’t yours?”
This article is about downloading TV shows. TV, in case you hadn’t heard, is broadcast for people to watch for free in most countries. In others, people have already paid for the content via a “TV License”. How can downloading TV shows be considered taking what isn’t yours when anyone can watch the shows on a TV?
Why can I record the shows on a VCR or DVR and it’s perfectly legal, but if I download shows off the internet, suddenly it’s a crime?
#16
“No. Not quite. The copyright lobby’s RESPONSE to your theft is what’s turning the world into 1984.
I hate it how you pirates yank on the dragons tail then act all surprised and self righteous when it retaliates.
Cause and effect, moron. You are the cause. They are the effect.”
So what was the cause that made them try to get the VCR banned? Or that made them put region codes on DVDs to keep people from playing DVDs that were LEGALLY purchased in other countries? Or that made them include HDCP in the HDMI standard so that anyone with older HD TVs can’t benefit from HD content today?
The content industry has a long history of trying to control and suppress every new technology that they don’t agree with.
As for the article; It’s too bad there’s no way to count Usenet downloads in the total. I download all my TV shows from the newsgroups.
piracy is theft
piracy is the illegal manufacture and sale of conterfeit products. piracy is stealing revenue which belongs to the copyright holder, piracy is stealing
filesharing is copying, filesharing is not piracy
http://www.h33t.com
Why can I record the shows on a VCR or DVR and it’s perfectly legal, but if I download shows off the internet, suddenly it’s a crime?
ANY broadcast can be recorded.
sharing it over the net. by p2p means. Is only new tech
Don’t shun new tech or it won’t grow & and become helpful in every day life.
px46408jz7c3kmfq
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