The rise of unauthorized downloading of TV-shows is a signal that customers want something that is not available through other channels. Availability seems to be the key issue why people turn to BitTorrent, and this is also reflected in the fact that most downloads occur from countries where the show has yet to air on TV.

Outside the US, fans sometimes have to wait for weeks or even months before the show airs on TV in their own country. Many of them are simply not that patient or willing to torture themselves, and turn to BitTorrent in desperation.

Despite massive piracy of TV-shows, there are plenty of opportunities for distributors and broadcasters to win viewers back. The piracy figures simply show that TV viewing habits are changing. There is a huge interest in on-demand TV and there are millions of viewers that can potentially bring in millions of dollars in revenue.

Below we have compiled a list of the most downloaded TV-shows, together with the viewer average for TV in the US, based on data from Nielsen. The data for the top 10 is collected by TorrentFreak from several sources, including reports from all public BitTorrent trackers. All the data is carefully checked and possible inaccuracies are systematically corrected.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Perhaps even more importantly, the rise of unauthorized downloading of TV-shows is a signal that customers want something that is not available through other channels. Availability seems to be the key issue why people turn to BitTorrent.

This also becomes clear when we look at the geographical location of the downloaders. The vast majority of the downloads come from overseas, over 90% on average. Outside the US, fans sometimes have to wait for weeks or even months before the show airs on TV in their country. Many of them are simply not that patient or willing to torture themselves, and turn to BitTorrent in desperation.

Legal online streaming services are only available in the US, and change very little in the overall download figures. Until the availability problem is addressed, we’re not likely to see a decrease in TV-show downloads from BitTorrent. Indeed, compared to last year, the download figures have grown a little, especially for the top three TV-shows in the list.

Below we have compiled a list of the most downloaded TV-shows, together with the viewer average for TV in the US, based on data from Nielsen. Note that the download count for each show is per episode, the most downloaded in this case. The Olympics Opening Ceremony was one of the most wanted broadcasts of the year with 4,620,000 downloads, but we decided only to include TV-series.

The data for the top 10 is collected by TorrentFreak from several sources, including reports from all the large BitTorrent trackers. The download number is the sum of all torrent downloads for the most popular episode. Based on previous experience a correction is made for smaller .torrent releases that we might have missed.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The data for the most recent TV episodes are collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only.

Thanks to ShowInsider we now also include a list based on the total number of downloads (not only recent episodes) of all shows in the past week.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The data for the most recent TV episodes are collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only.

Thanks to ShowInsider we now also include a list based on the total number of downloads (not only recent episodes) of all shows in the past week.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

The data presented here is collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Since both shows are ‘released’ on Tuesday, BitTorrent sites see a significant traffic increase on that day.

The data presented here is collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only.

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

It turns out that Fox’s assumption is right. We decided to look into the download locations of one of the most popular Prison Break torrents and found that, based on a sample of more than 250,000 downloads, most downloaders are located in Europe.

In our sample, which represents approximately 10% of the total downloads this week, the show was most downloaded in Poland (12%). UK and France were in second and third place respectively, followed by Canada and The Netherlands. The US was sixth in the list with only 4% of the total downloads, and Greece, Spain, Australia and Brazil complete the top 10.

As we have said before, availability seems to the key issue why people turn to BitTorrent. Non-US Prison Break fans sometimes have to wait for weeks or even months before the show airs on TV in their country, and many of them are not that patient, or willing to torture themselves. Until this problem is addressed, we’re not likely to see a decrease in TV-show downloads from BitTorrent.

The 4% US downloaders that preferred to get the show via BitTorrent instead of streaming it online probably did so because they wanted to watch it on their TV or get a higher quality copy – streaming isn’t all that. Both Fox and Hulu, the two sites that offer Prison Break streams have not published any numbers, so it’s hard to compare the number of US downloaders (~100.000) with the US streamers.

We do have a new TV-torrent download chart, with plenty of newcomers. So, let’s take a look at the 10 most downloaded shows this week. The data for the weekly download chart is collected by TorrentFreak from a representative sample of BitTorrent sites and is for informational and educational reference only.

Top Downloads August 31 – September 07

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

Initially MediaDefender, an anti-piracy organization that has been known to run fake BitTorrent trackers, had plans to use MiiVi.com for their video download site, but those plans were canceled after we posted about it.

It’s great to see that the name “Miivi” is changing into something positive now. The BitTorrent community can use another stable public tracker, especially now TorrentBox and PodTropolis have restricted access to its trackers to block peers in the US.

MiiVi.org describes itself as a tribute to the fall of MediaDefender and was registered by the people behind MegaNova. The Pirate Bay runs tracker.miivi.org which is a public BitTorrent tracker and EZTV uses tv.mivii.org for their TV-show releases.

Isn’t it ironic?

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.

“We’re thrilled to be partnering with world-renowned entertainment companies and TV networks,” said Ashwin Navin, President and co-founder of BitTorrent. “This is a true testament to the value of our community, technology and the position we aspire to play in the world of entertainment and content distribution. Our audience has a voracious appetite for digital content and by offering the titles they want with a solid user experience; it’s a win-win situation for both content providers as well as our users.”

Earlier this year BitTorrent Inc announced deals with several other movie and TV companies including Warner Bros.

Update: We’ve just got word that BitTorrent Inc is going to be getting a massive amount of funding from Accel Partners and Doll Capital Management to the tune of $15-25 million. This is still unconfirmed, but two separate and reliable sources have provided us with the same information. We contacted Ashwin Navin regarding the matter. He told us that there were no fundraising announcements at this point.

What’s worth taking note of is the timing of this rumour. It wouldn’t be highly unexpected for BitTorrent to receive a large amount of funding at this point. They have just signed deals with high-profile content companies and their future suddenly looks bright. It is very possible that the venture capitalists knew of the deal in advance and were waiting for it to fall through to confirm their investments.

Another rumour that has arisen once again is the resignation (or firing) of one of BitTorrent’s co-foudners, and inventor of the technology. According to Giga OM, BitTorrent Inc is replacing Bram Cohen with a more experienced manager. The Silicon Valley-based blog is reporting that a head hunter has been hired and that the company is already on the lookout for someone to take his place. “There is talk about founder and CEO Bram Cohen being replaced by a more seasoned manager, and apparently have hired a head hunter, to lead the search,” writes Om Malik. He then goes on to say, “We have confirmed this information.”

Update: Bram Cohen told P2Pnet: “I’d like you to know that I’m still happily on board at BitTorrent, and not going anywhere.”

Source: TorrentFreak, for the latest info on copyright, file-sharing and anonymous VPN services.