FOR the fourth year running, fantasy series “Game of Thrones” has topped a list of the most pirated TV shows.

    According to Torrentfreak, the season five finale was illegally downloaded 14.4m times. More than half of those came in the week after its U.S. premiere.

    “The Walking Dead” and “The Big Bang Theory” were also in the top three, with 6.6m and 4.4m downloads respectively.

    Earlier this year, “Game of Thrones” broke a record when more than 258,000 users shared the show simultaneously.

    The number of illegal downloads for the HBO drama is almost double the 8 million people who regularly watch the show legally in the United States.

    The first four episodes of season five leaked online before they aired in April, after one pirate uploaded content from the DVD screeners sent out to critics for review.

    “Game of Thrones” was nominated for 24 Emmy Awards in July and, earlier this month, was nominated for the Golden Globe for best drama series.

    Series six is due to begin in April.(SD-Agencies)