The Game of Thrones season eight premiere was pirated 54 million times in the first 24 hours, monitoring firm MUSO has revealed.
The figure is triple the number of people who tuned in to HBO to watch the episode (17 million), with over 76 per cent of unauthorised views coming from illegal streaming sites.
India had the highest rate of piracy, nearly double that of China, with the US in third place.
MUSO co-founder and CEO Andy Chatterley said: “Season 8 has been long-anticipated by fans around the world, leading to what can only be described as piracy mania as dedicated fans look for streams and torrents, whether that be a result of the content not being available in their region, wanting to get in on the action early through fear of missing out, or to avoid seeing spoilers on social media. The episode also leaked hours in advance of the premiere, causing a frenzy on torrent and streaming sites across the world.”
