Games of Thrones, most pirated show; HBO admits piracy doesn’t hurt sales

In the wake of HBO’s “Games of Thrones” being the most pirated TV show on the Internet, HBO’s programming president Michael Lombardo admits that he sees piracy as a “compliment” and has actually helped improved sales.

Having been pirated more than 4 million times per episode per episode, it seems as if piracy hasn’t deterred its DVD sales, which in February set record breaking pace by becoming the company’s biggest first-day home video release with sales of 241,000 units, an increase of 44% over season one. Moreover, sales of individual episodes reached 355,000, up 112% from season one.

“I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts,” Lombardo said to Entertainment Weekly. “The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.”

Despite being the most pirated show on television, Games of Thrones is also the network’s top money-maker.

“If you look at aggregate of international and DVD sales — which are the two revenue streams we look at since we’re not selling it domestically on another platform — yes, absolutely, in terms of shows we have on now,” Lombardo said.

The executive noted, however, that HBO’s policy remains firmly against piracy.

“We obviously are a subscription service so as a general proposition so we try to stop piracy when we see it happen, particularly on a systematic basis when people are selling pirated versions,” he said, adding that the network “hasn’t sent out the Game of Thrones police.”

Source: BGR