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Heroes leads illegal TV downloads NBC Universal sci-fi drama Heroes has topped a list of television shows being illegally downloaded over the internet, with almost 55 million people globally having done so. Research firm Big Champagne puts Disney-ABC's Lost in second place with 51 million people downloading the show, while Fox's 24 comes in third with just over 34 million. The entire top 10 comprises US shows and 47% of illegal downloading activity takes place in the US, further underscoring the need for legitimate services such as Hulu to offer an alternative. The findings will also lend impetus to the TV Everywhere initiative being championed by cable companies Time Warner and Comcast, now with the backing of telco Verizon as well. "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." Full details of the research will be revealed at the Edinburgh Television Festival this weekend, during a discussion about what lessons broadcasters can draw from the music industry's experience of piracy. The UK, which accounted for just 4% of download activity, is still grappling with confused government policy on the issue, with many of the recommendations from June's Digital Britain white paper now apparently being undone. Big Champagne's top illegal TV downloads are:
Jonathan Webdale 28 Aug 2009 © C21 Media 2009 
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