When the first episode of the final season of Game of Thrones was premiered last week, many Indians were in front of their computer screens at 6.30 am cheering the return of their favourite show. Acknowledging the wide fan-following the series has in the country, Star has partnered with Hotstar to air the show in India at the same time as US and UK. However, many of the Indians still resort to illegal means for watching the popular show.
According to The Verge, a report by analytics company Muso shows that GoT premiere had a whopping 55 million pirated views in the first 24 hours itself, through illegal streaming, downloads and torrent website. And no prize for guessing, with 10 million views, most pirated viewers accounted from India. Ranking second was China with 5 million views.
The Verge also accounts that HBO accounted just 17.4 million viewership.
Despite much efforts to curb such illegal viewings, piracy and leaks have been a major setback for the show. According to reports, the second episode of the latest season had leaked just hours before the broadcast.
When you have waited a whole week to watch an episode, and it leaks just hours before its premiere! #S8E2 #GoTS8 #GOTleaked #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/xu3OGF0OiS
— Aashish KC (@kcaashish) April 21, 2019
#GameofThrones leak
How’d the leak happen anyway? pic.twitter.com/f1nTJLwqH9— Aap kon (@MainAurKon) April 21, 2019
With the increasing pirated views it seems like the winter is already here for the GoT makers.
