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Top 10 Most Pirated TV Shows on BitTorrent

TV-shows are some of the most wanted files on BitTorrent, and according to some, it’s becoming the modern day TiVo. But what are all those people sharing?

heroesEvery week we take a look at the most downloaded TV-Shows on BitTorrent. Heroes is leading the chart again this week, followed by Prison Break and 24.

The data for the most recent TV episodes listed below are collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only. The data for the second list is based on the total number of downloads is not yet available at the time of publication.

Most Downloads (recent episodes)

April 20 – April 26
ranking (prev) show est. downloads
torrentfreak.com
1 (2) Heroes 1,620,000
2 (3) Prison Break 1,140,000
3 (4) 24 730,000
4 (…) Desperate Housewives 710,000
5 (8) Family Guy 590,000
6 (…) Smallville 510,000
7 (9) South Park 460,000
8 (…) Gossip Girl 430,000
9 (8) Fringe 420,000
10 (…) Supernatural 390,000

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  • word

    Family guy back up high on the list nice!

  • lol

    lost??

  • Hacker/pirates of the world UNITE

    note the lack a decent sci fi
    seems to be a hollywood trend as the buggers cant think or imagine no more

  • o.O

    @2 Lost sucks, move on.

  • …

    @4 you suck, sir.

  • Bertus

    Prison Break is overrated. The entire story is pretty much bullshit and they haven’t even been in a prison…

  • Anon

    No sopranos??? That sux

  • /now if only..

    Hooray for family guy…!

    :0)

  • Anonymous

    lost sucks
    family guy sucks
    prison break IS overrated but i enjoy it anyway

  • Anonymous

    No Chuck?

  • bleh

    Does heroes still suck?

    I’ve missed like 5 episodes or something… I just caught the end of last night’s and my brother said it was good.

  • randò_óm

    Season finale of Heroes was pretty damn good imo.

  • Anonymous

    @6 iirc, in the first season or so they where in a prison…

  • the who?

    No Simpsons?

  • langp

    Lost is not in this list, because it was only a clip show last week. Heroes and Prisonbreak are both god awful shows.

  • Anonymous

    This list is quite repetitive from week to week…

  • Hynkel

    House?

  • NastyBedazzler

    No House or Lost on this list because last weeks episodes were recaps or reruns. Expect them back next week.

    I love (sarcasm) the firebombing on these forums “Lost sucks…” or “Heroes sucks…” like this is based on some kind of actual fact and not just viewer opinions. Go share your worthless opinion somewhere else, morons.

  • shoppe

    No doubt this has been said before but, downloading TV shows via torrent is pirating, but taping them with my VCR is not?!

  • Ugh

    Desperate Housewives???
    Smallville???
    Gossip Girl???
    Fringe???
    Supernatural???

    Man….people watch some shitty shows dont they :/

    Even Prison break sucks ass but i can understand the massive downloads as it’s just returned and are the final episodes.

  • worpre

    This list sucks all except for family guy and south park

  • Ruslan Almukhametov

    Heroes finale was great. Good work

  • Hacker/pirates of the world UNITE

    they watch shitty cause the MORE shitty is below that, and like i said you can NOW see very good the lack of imagination in tv land….

  • wheresMyFavoriteShow?

    no dollhouse????!?!?!?!

    just kidding lol

  • Izkata

    @11: Last night was the season finale. I have yet to see it… Got to see it before a friend does >_<

  • Anonymous

    “No doubt this has been said before but, downloading TV shows via torrent is pirating, but taping them with my VCR is not?!”

    Taping on your vcr is just as good as watching for them, if you happened to be one of the few people who effected the ratings. You would also be “viewing” the commercials, even though odds are you fast-forward through them. This is how they make money, eh?

  • gruff

    big bang theory! dammit

  • Paul

    I’m surprised Lie To Me isnt up there, fuking amazing show

  • BigTim

    Why BitTorrent is the future of TV

    Every innovation has opposition when it is first developed. Everyone that is a consumer of television has the same desire: “watch what you want, when you want”. The reality is that while the networks are acquiescing to this reality (you can watch some episodes on the ‘net) they are not really endorsing it. This is more like a pity-screw than anyone really devoting time and effort to developing a solid solution to a hungry public.

    Along comes file-sharing. Utilities, games and music were the early fodder for this. The huge impact, music, and thus the ‘evil empire’ moves its gaze to the innovation. It was attempted to be squashed but, like all innovative and revolutionary ideas, was unable to fully be defeated. Now that the medium has moved to movies and television the effort of the evil giant is still to stomp out this revolutionary way of enjoying commercial entertainment.

    Ah, there’s the word… commercial. Yes, that is why all the fuss. Money.

    Why oppose the inevitable? Why make every computer owner in the world a criminal? Why mark yourself for hate, derision, and the target of public scorn… which will inevitably turn into political scorn as the abuses are made open and monetary damages forced to be paid? Why indeed; when the alternative is much more lucrative and satisfying.

    Why fight them when you can integrate with them and drive how they work?

    What are the key complaints regarding file sharing?
    Lack of commercial revenue?
    Lack of usage tracking?

    Well, for the 2nd item that doesn’t really exist in TV now; not really.

    So, I propose the following:

    Instead of fighting file share spend the money to setup one’s own seeding service. Take all the shows that would normally be ripped and shared and put high quality, commercial laden, shows on the ‘net, fully seeded and supported. This way you get a one to one download tracking for both ratings review and advertiser charges. You also forego having to have giant file storage since you’re using peer-to-peer sharing.

    Oh, but to make this happen you have to get the ISPs to stop blocking file-sharing…

    But, here we go. It’s a win-win.

  • Kel

    @18 yeh true,
    but for the life of me I can’t understand how people like House. I tried really hard to watch it a few times for wife but I find it really unbearable after the first few minutes.

  • bluesharmonica

    Whoever said no sci fi in the top 10, that is because ‘Caprica’ has not started yet or the new Stargate show.

    BSG ended :(

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  • Craprica

    For those who haven’t seen it, this really isn’t a spoiler.

    The hacks in hollywood have just destroyed the whole battlestar galactica franchise by devolving the whole cylon uprising to a teenager’s rebellion. Are you mental? Which retard suggested this as a story line, let alone who approved it?
    Glen A. Larson must be furious with this childish piece of work. I certainly am. Frackin joke.

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  • Elite P2P

    Yay! Heroes is high up there still. Such a suspenseful interesting show. Also, which such popularity comes a large amount of seeds.

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  • jake

    to each his own. funny how everyone thinks what they watch is some how a benchmark for what a good show is. Here’s something, you dont have to watch it cuz its popular, watch it cuz you enjoy it, its not a popularity race. OOOOh my show is good so it must be baddass, everything else sucks…

  • Anonymous

    Prison Break and Heroes are lame now. Sorry but it’s true. The only decent TV show is Lost.

  • Thepapercliphelp

    RIAA SUCKS

    Here at the papercliphelp, we stay with torrent freak and can answer most any questions about anything! Especially torrenting and pirate bay material. This is sorta like a KGB service but FREE!! Ask any questions! FREE! If this takes off we will have an iPhone app in the future!!!

    The address is thepapercliphelp@gmail.com

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  • wickedfiction

    where the hell is dollhouse and chuck and the mentalist, those shows are better then this crap list combined. People are no clue what a good show really is about..

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  • SomeSouthAfricankid

    Heroes is total bullsh*t… Prison Break is overrated. 24 happens to be the best drama on that list, hands down!

  • meme

    not one of these shows is worth seeing.
    WTF IS THE MATTER WITH YOU PEOPLE?

    south park began with JESUS as the main character. nuff said

    prison break. Shawshank Redemption strikes again.

    heroes. zomg it’s like yeah, i am in kindergarten

    24? words cannot express the nausea

    desperate housewives. yes whores, but all ugly inside
    ..
    and so on.

    You know it, you’ve heard it before, i cannot post without it:

    Get a life!

  • brandingbugs

    big tim commercial ladden shows would simply be downloaded and have the commercials cut out

    the advertising must be as unintrusive as currently available

    something like this http://bit.ly/info/YA7ag
    with only 4 out the 26 commercial spot going to the actual show producers under a traditional tv deal, it would not be hard to generate pro rated equivalent compensation using this tecnique.

    Especially when you take into account that there are 60 version of every episode available for download. And that number grows with each resolution/audio quality change.

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  • herbert

    Ja, das ist meine echte email-adresse! Heute Nacht hatte ich das “Vergnügen” mit einem echten Jünger der mainstream-Presse zu kommunizieren. Das Problem, ich kenne diesen Menschen schon mein halbes Leben… Heute NAcht, wurde mir bewußt, dass Menschen, die für sich selbst denken können, in dieser Gesellschaft unerwünscht sind! Das hier ist kein Gelaber von jemanden der zu viel Zeit hat – nein, das hier ist eine Anfrage an Leute, die die Fähigkeit haben, jemanden zu folgen, der diese Gesellschaft in die Knie zwingen wird. Ich will hier keine grauen Mäuse hören – ich will Menschen, die bereit sind dieses Land, durchwachsen von Korruption, brennen zu sehen. Dieser Text ist kein Scherz, kein Spaß – dies ist die letzte Möglichkeit Freiheit zu erkämpfen! Danke.

    Yes, that is my real email-address! Tonight, i had the “fortune” to meet a real believer of the mainstream-press. The problem, i knew this men half my life… Tonight, i realized, that people, who think for themselfes, are no longer accepted in this society. This is no chatter of someone with to much time on his hands – no, this is an outcry to people, who have the ability, to follow a movement, that will bring down this system to it’s knees. I don’t want to hear them grey mice complaining – i wan’t people, who whant this land, rotten with corruption, to burn. This text is no joke, no scam – this is the last opportunity to fight for freedom! Thanks.

    I am sorry for my bad english – please, correct that text and copy it. Thank you!
    bigboy190@web.de

  • BTGuard - BitTorrent Anonymously

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