And here I thought it was According to Jim. Who knew? Maybe this year.
Until then, NBC's Heroes is the number one most pirated TV show of 2007, according to a list compiled on TorrentFreak. Nearly 2.5 million illegal downloads were made of the super-hero program, with the BBC program Top Gear coming in second at about 1.2 million. Others on the list are Battlestar Galactica (706,000), 24 (524,000) and Scrubs (tenth on the list at 427,000 downloads).
Here's my question concerning all of this...why is this still illegal?
Granted, the actual download count may be inflated because many shows have multiple torrents, but 2.5 million is still a pretty high number when it comes to the Internet. In addition, according to the TorrentFreak post, the networks and others are allegedly using the BitTorrent sites to promote their shows. So, if this is being done secretly by the people who are saying that it's piracy is it still piracy? Man, no wonder the Writers are so pissed at all of this. It's confusing as hell!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-03-2008 @ 8:40AM
Geno said...
Why is it illegal to download it when you can watch it for free on NBC.com?
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1-03-2008 @ 8:51AM
Derek said...
You can't watch it for free at nbc.com if you're outside the US. Those of us who aren't stateside have to wait anything up to 2 years to see it on our local stations. By then it's been totally "spoiled" by all the sites you can think of (TVSquad included).
If NBC (and all US networks) want to make deals where they air their shows a day or two behind the US broadcast then a lot of this downloading wouldn't occur. I certainly wouldn't go to the trouble of downloading it to save myself a wait of a couple of days. But considering that season 2 of Heroes may not begin airing in the UK during 2008, screw that.
If NBC want to launch some kind of universal player on their site for worldwide viewers that FORCES us to watch ads that are embedded into the show from global brands like McDonalds and Coca Cola, bring it on. I'll watch it that way.
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1-03-2008 @ 12:04PM
horsenbuggy said...
That frustrating delay goes both ways. I have to wait up to a year for Doctor Who and Torchwood (although I think we're getting the second season of Torchwood much sooner than expected). Also, most of the good English shows come over to us on BBC America, a channel that rarely comes with a standard cable tv package - we have to pay extra to get it.
Granted, there are not as many common websites that spoil English shows for the American audience as you have to put up with. I would love for there to be some global distribution system where we could watch the best shows from any country. Hey wait, isn't that the interweb?
And don't get me started on how difficult it is to keep up with Arsenal from over here!!!!!
1-03-2008 @ 9:00AM
Thomas said...
2.5 million per episode or for all episodes?
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1-03-2008 @ 10:00AM
Bash said...
Depends... but currently you see about 50 to 70k users on every torrent right after the episodes go online and since you're done in an hour to three there are of course people who hop on later. So I guess the Number 2.5 Million is somewhat inaccurate. I guess it could be for the whole season with every episode clocking in on 100k downloads.
That's a measly amount considering that even the 5th grade TV station which broadcasts Heroes here in Germany reaches about 4 Million viewers with their airings of season 1 - and that's jus germany. Factoring in all other countries in the world, this can't be a big deal. It must be around .0001% of all potential viewers with NO alternative to watch the material elsewhere.
It comparable with MP3. When Apple opened the iTunes Store, I started buying music online.
But since Heroes season 2 totally sucks and I would have bought it on itunes and since season 6 of 24 sucked molto and I was considering to buy it you might have a lot of unhappy buyers of season passes on your hand if they keep the prices at the price of the DVD sets. All you would get is people waiting half a year and then importing DVD sets from the US. Which would still not get rid of people who want to watch it ASAP.
So get the shows online for the whole world with ads of international companies embedded. I won't care.
As long as....
You know there will always be a reason to pirate... ARRRRR ^^;
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1-03-2008 @ 10:31AM
MCW said...
Join Netflix, you can watch all the episodes from 2 seasons for free at any time on your computer.
What kind of goons are pirating a TV show? That's a little nerdy.
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1-03-2008 @ 11:45AM
L. said...
I used torrents to watch Heroes while I was on vacation in London for a fortnight. I live in the States and had been watching the season every week up to that point. I didn't want to have a break in episodes and then have 3 hour-long shows to watch at once upon my return (along with the countless other shows piled up in my tivo).
I don't know that it's "nerdy", though I suppose I was the one who didn't want to wait 2 weeks to watch the episodes.
As for it being illegal, I'm not entirely sure how it's any different than using a DVR to record and then transferring to a computer, which, to my knowledge, is legal. I realize it's the sharing but that's the problem, but you'd think any way they can get additional people interested in watching during the normal run (when the advertising dollars are made) would be ideal for the networks in question.
1-03-2008 @ 10:45AM
Joe said...
Nerdy? We don't all live in the grand old USA, so Netflix isn't really available to us. This is an easy way for alot of people to get their shows from other countries without waiting 6 months, if they get it at all.
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1-03-2008 @ 10:49AM
mr. Obsession said...
Spoken like someone who's never seen HD programming before. Or not wanted to wait until the next season to enjoy current programming.
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1-03-2008 @ 11:15AM
BartmanDK said...
Well Bash i think the 2.5 mil. is an understatement! you cant really count this as there are many ways of downloading shows, and there are a lot of Torrent-trackers (a kinda server for BitTorrent)
And the numbers keep climbing all the time as more people want to get into shows and start downloading old episodes
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1-03-2008 @ 12:09PM
Gilbert0 said...
This just goes to show how popular Heroes is for all of you nay sayers!
One hulu is up and running (if you haven't checked it out yet you should) I doubt NBC and Fox will sit around and let this happen since they are both represented here.
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1-03-2008 @ 2:55PM
K-wings said...
Top Gear is only in Second Place! It is the best show on television. I just wish BBC America would show its full form and not a year behind!
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1-03-2008 @ 6:36PM
eugene said...
I love nerds. First they complain that networks don't air shows they like and bitch and moan about shows like B5 and farscape not getting the push they need.
Then they finally get a hit show aimed at them and what do these ass wipes do? They steal it. Good thinking guys, because that will prove to the networks that the 18-35 virgin market is a viable one.
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1-03-2008 @ 6:50PM
Derek said...
Not sure why you're targeting nerds specifically. There are big non-nerdy shows that are being shown in one country, and are not available to people in other countries for in some cases more than a year. Why is it nerdy to also want to get that show and resort to downloading it when that's your only option other than waiting an unreasonable amount of time?
1-03-2008 @ 6:54PM
eugene said...
lets see, comic book based TV show + torrents = nerd.
1-03-2008 @ 8:08PM
Scott said...
I downloaded Heroes just so I could see it in the proper aspect ratio. My cable company displays the local NBC stations in a full screen format instead of widescreen. Just try watching Heroes, or the Office, with the sides of the picture chopped off. I complained, but got nowhere. Then I started buying the episodes on iTunes, until NBC decided they didn't want my money anymore and pulled all their shows, so it was off to BitTorrent for me.
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1-04-2008 @ 8:53AM
Joni said...
Living outside the US has me waiting for good shows up to 2 years if they ever get here. And if they do I have to deal with horrible dubbing and wait another 6-9 months for the DVD. Can you imagine how much fun, characterisation and witty lines gets lost with dubbing? Not to mention accents (for example Sawyers in Lost).
So, call me a nerd or whatever but I rather use Torrents and wait for the DVDs than watching shows years later with horrible dubbing and buy the DVD (if I haven't given up on them).
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