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Showing Original Post only (View all)HBO admits piracy is a ‘compliment’ that doesn’t hurt sales [View all]
While some companies are looking to end piracy across the entertainment industry, one major player doesnt think its quite the crisis its often made out to be. HBOs hit show Games of Thrones is the most-pirated TV show on the Internet with more than 4 million illegal downloads per episode, however the companys programming president Michael Lombardo believes piracy is a compliment to the show and has actually helped sales. In February, Game of Thrones season two was released to record-setting DVD sales, becoming the companys biggest first-day home video release with sales of 241,000 units, an increase of 44% over season one, and sales of individual episodes reached 355,000, up 112% from season one.
I probably shouldnt be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts, Lombardo said to Entertainment Weekly. The demand is there. And it certainly didnt 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 networks top money-maker.
If you look at aggregate of international and DVD sales which are the two revenue streams we look at since were not selling it domestically on another platform yes, absolutely, in terms of shows we have on now, Lombardo said.
http://news.yahoo.com/hbo-admits-piracy-compliment-doesn-t-hurt-sales-035946132.html