The proliferation of streaming platforms such as Netflix, Disney+ and Prime Video was thought to have solved the problem of movie- and TV-content piracy. But it would seem not, according to a Muso study reported by “Variety”.
The increase in the volume of content since the pandemic, with a growing number of platform-exclusive releases, combined with inflation and rising subscription prices, could explain why illegal sites are experiencing a new surge of interest.
The study by Muso, a data company specialising in global piracy, estimates that content-piracy sites were visited 215 billion times in 2022 worldwide, an increase of 18% compared with the year prior.
Among the most-pirated content, TV shows account for almost half of the traffic to these sites (46%), compared with 13% for movies. However, it is the world of cinema that shows the most significant growth in terms of illegal piracy.
With a jump of 38.6% in one year, pirated films surpassed TV content, which grew 8.8% compared with 2021.
“Like legal services, film- and TV-piracy sites allow for immediate access to content, rather than having to wait for a physical copy to be delivered or for the film to be released in a certain country,” explains the study.
And among the most illegally sourced content are animated and big-budget series such as “House of the Dragon”, broadcast on HBO, and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, available on Prime Video. On the movie side, blockbusters “Top Gun: Maverick” and “The Batman” have driven up demand for illegal content.
However, far from the clichés, consumers of pirate content still spend their money on legal content. “They turn to piracy to access content that is not available in their region or is not affordable at the time, but this audience will still spend significant sums on legal content when given the opportunity,” the study states.
Consumption patterns have also changed. If torrent sites, for downloading large files, were once the most popular way to obtain content in a free but illegal way, it is now illegal streaming sites that have taken over, reports the Muso study.
According to the data collected, 57% of pirated movies were viewed via pirate content-streaming sites, compared with 16% via torrent files. The difference is even more striking with TV content, since 95% of these shows were watched illegally on streaming sites compared with 2% via torrents.
This mode of consumption is visibly well established in the habits of internet users, who are well versed in illegal streaming. They are now so used to using these kinds of sites that they don’t need to turn to search engines to find them.
Indeed, according to the data collected, only a quarter of the traffic to these illegal sites is generated via search engines, compared with 65% of direct traffic, “Variety” highlights.
Top pirated content
In its report, Muso also listed the 10 most illegally watched series in the United States. Animated series, less accessible in the US, are among the most likely to be watched illegally – a trend that has resulted in the second place being held by manga series “Chainsaw Man”, season six of the series “Rick and Morty” in third place, and the first season of anime series “Bleach” taking sixth place, among others.
In contrast to the ranking of the most-watched series in 2022 from Nielsen, Netflix series are conspicuous by their absence. “Stranger Things”, “Wednesday”, and “Ozark” do not figure among the most-pirated series on American soil.
This is mainly due to the fact that it has been easy to share your Netflix account password with a third party; but, given the new password-sharing policy of the streamer, the ranking could be radically altered in 2023.
Here are the top 10 most-pirated titles last year:
- “House of the Dragon”, season 1
- “Chainsaw Man”, season 1
- “Running Man”, season 1
- “Rick and Morty”, season 6
- “Moon Knight”, season 1
- “Bleach”, season 1
- “The Eminence in Shadow”, season 1
- “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, season 1
- “SPY x FAMILY”, season 1
- “The Rising of the Shield Hero”, season 2