The source of the story is here, and an excerpt follows:There's more to the story, but thought it was interesting that HEROES is still the most popular tv show in that stat...

Also, I decided to see what Big Champagne was about, and in searchin', I found a little article by David Lawrence (ya may have heard of him)...

So, take the info how ya want to; just sharin' it. Thoughts?

I remember hearing it was the most illegally downloaded while v4 was on, didn't realise it was still true. I guess it's probably a lot in part to do with the large global audience it has, many of whom don't want to wait for the next episode... erm... not that I partake in any of that...
In fact, I hope most of the illegal downloaders aren't american, otherwise that's viewers not contributing to the ratings.

Yes americans watch legally. Don't be to hard on us poor Europeans though, we often have to wait a whole year before the US episodes are aired here and that is just too damn long.

More info, this time with numbers (or a diff. article here; emphasis added by me):Well, do you think it should be socially acceptable? I used to be a fan of Cohen's app, but now I wait for stuff like Top Gear, Doctor Who, Primeval, etc. ...

I'm suprised at the large proportion of americans watching it illegally when there's plenty of legal channels for them, similar to how I wouldn't download torchwood illegally when I can get a better and faster version legally.
As far as foriginers watching, I think it would be acceptable if you were to watch it illegally when it's out in america then watch it on whatever channel your country shows it on as well. Sounds silly, but still pretty fair - you're still going to watch the adverts for it that support it etc, it would be more like recording it and skipping the ads the second time you watch it, except... reverse.
...I make sense to me...

'Heroes' most popular illegally downloaded TV show

Millions of web users are using peer-to-peer filesharing sites to illegally download their favourite television programmes, according to new research.

Around 55 million people around the world are estimated to have downloaded Heroes, while more than 51 million illegally downloaded episodes of Lost.

The research, conducted by monitoring firm Big Champagne, found that the number of people visiting ###### sites had doubled in the last year.

"Millions of television viewers now access free, unauthorised versions of favourite shows at least some of the time," said Eric Garland, chief executive of Big Champagne. "This is a socially acceptable form of casual piracy, and it is replacing viewing hours." The research firm also monitored the most popular illegally downloaded films. Watchmen topped the charts, downloaded by almost 17 million people, followed by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was illegally downloaded by more than 13 million web users.

Full details of the research will be revealed at the Edinburgh Television Festival this weekend, during a discoussion about what lessons broadcasters can draw from the music industry's experience of piracy.

"We may see a lot of disruption [in the broadcast industry] but it is premature to say 'we're next," said Mr Garland. "The effect on the [television] business is going to be very different."

Mr Garland said that piracy levels for live events and sports shows was significantly lower than for popular television dramas.

Most popular illegally downloaded television shows

Heroes: 54,562,012 downloads

Lost: 51,151,396

24: 34,119,093

Prison Break: 29,283,591

House: 26,277,954

Fringe: 21,434,755

Desperate Housewives: 21,378,412

Grey's Anatomy: 19,916,775

Gossip Girl: 19,706,870

Smallville: 19,598,999

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news...ed-TV-show.html

Huh... figured True Blood and Dexter would've been in there.

General opinion I've run into is that True Blood's boring and not worth watching. And opinion on Dexter's been mixed from what I've seen. There's no middle ground. Viewers either love it or hate it.