Current U.S. television shows are being downloaded tens of millions of times via BitTorrent sites, mostly by people outside the U.S., according to the website TorrentFreak.com, which tracks BitTorrent activity. The website said Thursday that Lost was the most-pirated title of the year with 5.94 million downloads for a single episode, followed by Heroes with 5.48 million. TorrentFreak makes the case that the figures reveal a huge overseas demand for U.S. television shows that are either unavailable abroad or those that are broadcast weeks or months after they air in the U.S. Those shows, it noted, have the potential to bring in millions of dollars in revenue if they were offered via video on demand.

The most downloaded shows on BitTorrent in 2010 1. Lost, 5.94 million downloads; 2. Heroes , 5.48 million; 3. Dexter , 3.88 million; 4. The Big Bang Theory , 3.27 million; 5. House , 2.61 million; 6. How I Met Your Mother , 2.49 million; 7. 24, 2.24 million; 8. True Blood , 1.92 million; 9. Glee , 1.7 million; 10. Family Guy , 1.62 million.

31/12/2010