Game of Thrones has emerged as the most-pirated TV show over the internet this year, according to news site Torrentfreak’s latest annual survey.

It said one episode of the series had racked up 4,280,000 illegal global downloads – slightly more than than its estimated US television audience.

The site said that overall there had been a “small increase” in the amount of illegal sharing.

That was despite a “levelling out” of the activity the previous two years.

Most pirated TV shows of 2012

1. Game of Thrones

2. Dexter

3. The Big Bang Theory

4. How I Met Your Mother

5. Breaking Bad

6. The Walking Dead

7. Homeland

8. House

9. Fringe

10. Revolution

(Source: Torrentfreak)