“Breaking Bad” set a torrent download record on Sunday night and Monday when its series finale premiered.
Monitoring site Torrent Freak reported that more than 500,000 people downloaded and shared the final episode of the popular AMC show.
Most of the downloaders came from Australia, the U.S., and the U.K.
“Data gathered by TorrentFreak shows that 12 hours after the first copy of the episode appeared online, more than half a million people has grabbed a copy through one of many torrent sites. Never before have so many people downloaded a Breaking Bad episode, making it a strong contender for a top spot in our most-pirated TV-shows of the year chart,” the site wrote.
It said that Australia took the lead with 18 percent of total downloads.
However, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” had the largest swarm on BitTorrent with 170,000 people sharing a single file.
“One of the explanations for this defiant behavior is that these downloaders simply prefer to torrent the show out of habit. As reported earlier, even among those who have a Netflix subscription, many prefer to grab a copy via torrent sites as they find it more convenient,” it wrote.
After the show ended, hundreds of thousands of people went on Twitter to express their pleasure with the finale.
Series creator Vince Gilligan, in an interview after the show ended, said that the show was meant to have a “finite” ending.
On Monday, Jesse Pinkman actor Aaron Paul wrote on Twitter, thanking his character and Gilligan.
“I love you and you will always be a part of me. Thanks for the memories,” he wrote to his 1.2 million followers on Monday.
Walt actor Bryan Cranston also thanked the fans.
“Well, this is it. The last episode ever of ‘Breaking Bad.’ Thank you for sharing this ride with me. Without you we never would have lasted,” he wrote.
