The fans of Game of Thrones are legion and it feels ... on the number of times the first episode of the eighth and final season of the series was watched illegally.
"According to the British institute Muso, which collects data on piracy, it has been seen streaming by 55 million Internet users around the world within 24 hours after its broadcast," said our columnist Axel de Tarlé. For comparison, the same episode, which also broke a record audience in the United States, has gathered 17.4 million people on the legal platforms of broadcast HBO Go and HBO Now, not to mention the 11.8 millions of viewers in front of their television. Among the countries that hack the most Game of Thrones, we find "India with 10 million illegal viewing, followed by China, 5 million, the United States or Nigeria and Iran," says our editorialist.
>> The chronicle of Axel de Tarlé
But France is not left out, since it "ranks in eighth position with 1.3 million pirates". A "success" that the series is accustomed to, since it is one of the 25 most hacked in the world. Not to mention the heavy liability in terms of downloads and streaming of the adaptation of the work of George RR Martin, which was for six years the most popular series with pirates worldwide, between 2011 and 2017, according to the Torrentfreak site. Momentarily dethroned by Walking Dead in 2018, for the simple reason that there was no Game of Thrones season that year.
"The problem is not to pay"
"The problem is not to pay" to watch an episode, considers Axel de Tarlé. "Just look at the music industry and the success of Spotify or Deezer" [platforms that offer a subscription to listen to music online, ed] to be convinced. "According to the editorialist is the fragmentation of the offer of legal platforms that is involved: "Everyone starts: Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Hulu. And of course, everyone wants exclusive content. So, if you want to see the popular series Casa de Papel, you have to subscribe to Netflix, if you want to see Braquo, you need Canal +, and for Game of Thrones, it's OCS, "he explains.
"Result: it is expensive, complicated, and it is a real brake for the consumers", he summarizes before concluding by taking as an example the musical platforms. "If you need a subscription to listen to Cabrel and another to listen to Sardou, it does not work anymore".