Most pirated TV shows of 2021

WandaVision is the most-pirated TV show over the BitTorrent protocol of 2021, according to TorrentFreak data gathered throughout the year.

The show took the top spot from The Mandalorian. However, The Mandalorian did not release its third season this year, and as a result, did not feature in TorrentFreak’s top ten rankings.

It is noteworthy that although WandaVision and The Mandalorian are set in different fictional universes—Marvel and Star Wars—they are both owned by Disney.

Loki, this year’s second-most pirated TV series, is also a Disney-owned show in the Marvel cinematic universe.

A major factor that may be driving unlicensed downloads of these shows is that they are exclusive to the Disney+ streaming service, which is only available in a handful of countries.

At the end of 2020, Disney+ was available in 54 regions. In 2021, the service launched in six new territories.

While South Africa was not one of the countries that received Disney+ this year, the company promised to launch its streaming platform between June and August 2022.

Other Disney+ shows featuring in TorrentFreak’s top ten most pirated shows this year include The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (4th), Hawkeye (5th), and What If…? (6th).

Netflix shows that made the rankings are The Witcher (3rd) and Arcane (9th). While Adult Swim owns Rick and Morty (8th), its new season streamed on Netflix this year.

The only Amazon Prime Video show on the list is Wheel of Time (10th), while the only Apple TV+ show to feature is Foundation (7th).

TorrentFreak stated that Disney’s shows might be so popular with downloaders because the current streaming landscape is fragmented.

“It appears that many people prefer to pirate instead of paying for ‘another’ subscription,” said TorrentFreak. “That definitely applies to Marvel fans.”

However, it also noted that its calculations are based on single episode downloads, which means that season packs are underrepresented and disadvantages series released in one go.

“Based on rough calculations, Netflix’s Casa de Papel could take the 5th spot. Squid Game would have made it into the top 10 as well. We will do our best to reflect this correctly in future lists,” TorrentFreak stated.

Interestingly, The Witcher ranked high on TorrentFreak’s list despite Netflix releasing its seasons in batches.

“It’s worth noting that BitTorrent traffic only makes up a small portion of the piracy landscape. Most people use streaming sites and services nowadays, which generally do not report viewing stats,” said TorrentFreak.

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