The ease with which we access TV becomes more ubiquitous every year, but some shows will always top out demand for piracy. Now, for the third year in a row, HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ has topped TorrentFreak’s annual list of pirated TV show downloads, though a few of the entries on this year’s countdown might actually surprise you.

‘Game of Thrones’ topping out TorrentFreak‘s year-end list with 8,100,000 downloads makes a fair bit of sense, considering HBO’s cable-only access, though it remains to be seen if the network’s 2015 introduction of an independent streaming service will have any bearing on the number of illegal downloads. In any case, ‘Game of Thrones’ was expectedly followed by ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ in the top three, though somewhat surprising is that FOX’s ‘Gotham’ managed to make it up to the number 5 slot in only one half-season:

Following ‘Game of Thrones, ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Big Bang Theory’ claiming the top slots, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ landed at number 4, followed by ‘Gotham’ at 5, ‘Arrow’ at 6, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ at 7, ‘Vikings’ at 8, ‘Suits’ at 9, and ‘South Park’ at number 10. As the study itself notes however, actual piracy numbers from file hosting sites may prove significantly higher.

We’re still waiting for a longer peek at ‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 in 2015, but what say you? Will someone finally de-throne HBO’s fantasy epic with TorrentFreak’s next list? Tell us what shows from the list you’re watching, and give us your thoughts in the comments!

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