HBO to combat piracy by premiering Game of Thrones season five in 170 countries simultaneously in April
HBO has announced that a total of 170 nations will receive the upcoming season of Game of Thrones in a content distribution first which could crackdown on piracy.
As a result of the move, the show will be ‘simulcasted’ to HBO networks and partners across the world including HBO Asia, HBO Canada, HBO Europe, HBO Latin America, HBO Netherlands and HBO Nordic.
International audiences may be less tempted to pirate the content as they will not have to wait weeks or months to view it after the US premiere. The simultaneous launch could even go a long way to turning around Game of Thrones' top spot as the most pirated TV show ever.
Michael Lombardo, president of HBO programming, said: “We are thrilled to see our international partners jumping on board to bring Game of Thrones, one of the most universally loved television shows in the world, to global audiences at the same time it airs on HBO in the US.”
This comes after HBO in October announced that it is to launch a subscription-based streaming service as an alternative to costly cable packages which may be fuelling piracy.
The news follows the release of the season five trailer (viewable above) in February.
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