HBO's political drama "Game of Thrones" has been unseated as the most pirated TV show in history. Taking this infamous honor is Amazon Prime's recently released motoring show, "The Grand Tour."
Industry analyst Muso reported that the reign of "Game of Thrones" as the most pirated show was abruptly put to end with the release of "The Grand Tour." Based on Muso's estimate, the first episode of "The Grand Tour" was downloaded more than 9.7 million times, the second episode was downloaded 6.4 million times, and the third episode was downloaded 4.6 million times, according to Express.
On top of that, "The Grand Tour" have also set the record for the most-watched show on Amazon Prime's lineup of shows, according to Tech Spot. The show, which is well on its fourth episode, continues to break viewer records. Amazon s yet to release the actual figure, but estimates presented by many industry analysts confirmed that "The Grand Tour" is indeed grand.
"The Grand Tour" is a motoring show, exclusively distributed by Amazon. The show features former "Top Gear" presenters, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.
The massive hit of "The Grand Tour" is mainly attributed to the chemistry of these three presenters. On top of that, "Top Gear" was once the Guinness Book of World Records' most watched factual television show in the world.
Clarkson was fired by BBC after an altercation with one of the show's presenter. Hammond and May eventually joined their colleague and signed a deal with Amazon to create "The Grand Tour."
"Top Gear" has a huge following in the United Kingdom, which is why 13.7 percent of all illegal downloads of "The Grand Tour" originated from the country.
Some tech analysts said that the fact that "The Grand Tour" is exclusively distributed by BBC may have pushed viewers to illegally download it since it is not available in their region. It is also important to note that "The Game of Thrones" wrapped up its sixth season in June, and its seventh season will not be released until spring next year.
On the other hand, Amazon has confirmed that it will eventually release the show to at least 200 countries.