Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Map: Your state’s favorite television show to download illegally

map of most torrented tv shows

Your state's most torrented TV show. (Movoto)

Despite the efforts of the government and media companies, millions of Americans stream movies, television, games, and music illegally on the internet. The team at Movoto looked at “the location of seeding nodes for the top 300 most popular torrents, segmented across movies, television, and PC gaming.” A seeding node is a computer that downloads a piece of content and then makes it available for other people to download.

While the number of seeing nodes gathered seems reasonable, it’s problematic. We have no idea how many seeders there are per state, so we don’t know if that number is a majority of viewers in some states or only a tiny portion in others. For example, it seems unlikely that Kansas really loves the short-lived NBC show Believe. (It was the one about the little girl with the magic powers whose ads you couldn’t escape during the Winter Olympics.) It does seem absolutely correct, however, that Game of Thrones is the most torrented show in 15 states.

Check out some other Movoto maps on torrenting:

Most torrented movie

most torrented movie

map courtesy of Movoto

I see you Rhode Island and your love for Godzilla.

games torrented

map courtesy of Movoto

Who knew that Iowa had such great love for The Sims 3: Island Paradise ?

See More:

More in archives

archives
Ethics and Guidelines at Vox.comEthics and Guidelines at Vox.com
archives
By Vox Staff
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will decide if the government can ban transgender health careThe Supreme Court will decide if the government can ban transgender health care
Supreme Court

Given the Court’s Republican supermajority, this case is unlikely to end well for trans people.

By Ian Millhiser
archives
On the MoneyOn the Money
archives

Learn about saving, spending, investing, and more in a monthly personal finance advice column written by Nicole Dieker.

By Vox Staff
archives
Total solar eclipse passes over USTotal solar eclipse passes over US
archives
By Vox Staff
archives
The 2024 Iowa caucusesThe 2024 Iowa caucuses
archives

The latest news, analysis, and explainers coming out of the GOP Iowa caucuses.

By Vox Staff
archives
The Big SqueezeThe Big Squeeze
archives

The economy’s stacked against us.

By Vox Staff