Game of Thrones named most pirated series of 2016

The hit drama is based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling book series A Song of Ice and Fire

HBO series Game of Thrones has been crowned the most illegally downloaded TV show on the internet for the fifth consecutive year, according to TorrentFreak.

PHOTO: SCREENGRAB/TORRENTFREAK

The American fantasy drama, based on George R.R. Martin's best-selling book series A Song of Ice and Fire became an international sensation when it premiered in April, 2011. At its peak, it had approximately 350,000 people actively sharing an episode across several torrents.

Although there was no new swarm record, TorrentFreak stated that, traffic-wise, the interest was roughly at par with last year, but added this could be due to the shift from torrents to streaming sites over the past months, which likely had an impact on the numbers.

Zombie series The Walking Dead scored second place in the pirate listing, with science-fiction western Westworld in third place, despite having premiered just months ago, on October 2, 2016. DC Comics series The Flash and Arrow round out the top five.

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