'Game of Thrones' Most Illegally Downloaded Show in 2014

For the third year in a row, HBO's "Game of Thrones" has claimed the title of being the most illegally downloaded show in the world.

According to Torrent Freak, the fantasy drama based on George RR Martin's series of novels was downloaded over 8.1 million times - a far cry from AMC's "The Walking Dead," which came it at second with 4.8 illegal downloads.

The website noted that the listing was not a surprise as it broke the record for all-time piracy when it gathered more than 254,114 peers to simultaneously share the same torrent file. It is quite expected, considering that TV-show piracy has been rising steadily over the past few years, even exceeding the number of traditional viewers at times.

Today noted that even though "Game of Thrones" is the most pirated series of the year, it was not able to compete with "The Walking Dead" with more than 17 million average viewers (GOT only has about 7 million). The limited release of the series - it is only available for HBO subscribers - has pushed people to illegally download it instead.

It didn't bother HBO's programming president, Michael Lombardo. When the show was named most pirated in 2012, the exec told Entertainment Weekly that he's taking it as a compliment. He said, "I probably shouldn't be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts. 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."

Rounding out the top three most pirated shows are hit comedies, "The Big Bang Theory" and "How I Met Your Mother," followed by DC Comics superhero series, "Gotham" and "Arrow."

Medical drama "Grey's Anatomy" came in at the seventh spot, while the list ends with "Vikings," "Suits," and "South Park."

In other "Game of Thrones" news, it will be a big year for the series in 2015. With the fifth season to air soon, the trailer is expected to be out in the next few weeks, according to the International Business Times.

The fifth season is also expected to debut a new look for Tyrion (Peter Dinklage). New cities are expected to pop up, including Braavos, where Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) is headed, and Oberyn Martell's (Pedro Pascal) homeland, Dorne.

More than anything, however, series fans are looking forward to Cersei Lannister's (Lena Heady) penance walk, which caused a controversy during filming due to public nudity laws in Croatia.

"Game of Thrones" season 5 will air on HBO in Spring 2015.