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Future of TV SimilarWeb the Walking Dead

The top 10 most pirated shows of March 2016

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By Natan Edelsburg, SVP

March 29, 2016 | 5 min read

Zombies and an evil president dominated the interests of TV piraters around the world in March. The Walking Dead and House of Cards topped the charts across the board. This poses a big issue for Netflix as they continue to role out their global strategy. Here are the insights and charts from SimilarWeb.

  • Frank Underwood or the zombies, who you got? There was stiff competition for the top spot among torrenting sites with The Walking Dead barely beating House of Cards on Torrentz.eu, but maintaining a nice lead over the show on Pirate Bay. On KAT, House of Cards had a slight advantage, but in this epic showdown of Frank Underwood vs. the zombies (we’d totally watch that show) the zombies ultimately win.
  • After House of Cards and The Walking Dead, Vikings was the next most popular show, ranking 3rd on Torrentz and 4th on KAT and Pirate Bay. The Irish-Canadian historical drama has been performing well in its 4th season and fans were delighted to learn that the show was just renewed for a 5th season. We expect the show’s popularity to continue to grow among torrent users, as the season finale is scheduled for April 21st.
  • Better Call Saul and Daredevil are two shows that have seen their popularity rise significantly since last month and it seems both shows have found consistent online audiences. Pirate Bay users made Better Call Saul the third most downloaded show of February, while on KAT, Daredevil was third most popular.
  • In February, comedies did not perform well among torrent users and only two comedies were able crack any of the top 10 lists. Big Bang Theory ranked 6th on Torrentz.eu and Shameless became the 8th most popular show on Pirate Bay.
  • Never heard of Lucifer? Time to take notice! The show only began on January 26th, 2016, but is being torrented in massive numbers and ranked 5th on 2 of February’s torrent lists.
  • The X-Files along with DC’s Legends of Tomorrow have completely fallen off the torrent charts. The demise of The X-FIles can be traced to the fact that the show finished its 10th season on February 22nd, but Legends of Tomorrow is still airing new episodes, and the season will come to a close in late May.
  • Torrent users have again shown a strong affinity for superhero shows, and DC’s The Flash leads the pack, ranking as high as 5th on the Torrentz.eu list. Also popular are Arrow, Gotham, and Netflix’s Daredevil which released its second season on March 18th. It will be interesting to see how popular Daredevil becomes on Netflix and if it can displace Fuller House as the top show.
  • Other popular shows among torrent users include Suits, The 100, and Black Sails, though Black Sails and The 100 only ranked on one list each. Not making the cut this month after previously ranking are Limitless, Supernatural, and Supergirl.

SimilarWeb is the leading competitive market intelligence firm providing data analytics on desktop websites, mobile web and mobile apps. The SimilarWeb platform provides PPC, SEO, Media Buyers and Affiliates an edge over the competition with actionable insights into their competitor’s marketing tactics. Discover the data for yourself at SimilarWeb.com, with free insights for any website or mobile app.

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