Game of Thrones dethroned as most torrented show of the year by The Walking Dead

HBO's fantasy show skipped out on releasing a new season in 2018, ahead of this year's grand finale

Clarisse Loughrey
Wednesday 02 January 2019 12:27 GMT
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The Walking Dead has overtaken Game of Thrones to become the most-torrented TV show of 2018.

According to TorrentFreak, The Walking Dead finished in first when it came to BitTorrent downloads, ahead of The Flash and The Big Bang Theory.

HBO’s fantasy show skipped out on releasing a new season in 2018, ahead of this year’s grand finale, while The Walking Dead had season nine air, one which arguably rejuvenated the show after the previous two seasons faced a fairly tepid response from critics.

This year also saw one of the show’s most dramatic events yet, as star Andrew Lincoln departed the show, with his character Rick Grimes now expected to feature in a trilogy of films. The second part of season nine is scheduled to premiere on 10 February on AMC.

Vikings and Titans were fourth and fifth respectively when it came to BitTorrent downloads, followed by Arrow, Supernatural, Westworld, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Suits.

The Walking Dead‘s official Twitter account responded to the news on Twitter, commenting: “Always nice to be number one.”

However, the results don’t take into account illegal streaming sites, which tend not to report viewing statistics and Game of Thrones continues to be the most-downloaded of all season bundles on torrent sites.


The final season of Game of Thrones will air in April. Viewers in the US can watch on HBO. Sky Atlantic and NOW TV will simulcast every episode in the UK. You will also be able to catch up via NOW TV.

HBO has so far kept information regarding the upcoming season very close to their chest, barely revealing any new footage and doing all they can to prevent leaks. Fans got a glimpse of Jon Snow embracing his sister, Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner) in an HBO 2019 sneak-peak video.

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