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Brace yourselves, pirates are coming! the effects of Game of Thrones leak on TV viewership

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  • Wojciech Hardy

    (Institute for Structural Research (IBS)
    University of Warsaw
    University of Warsaw)

Abstract

Pre-release leaks of cultural content incentivise consumers to look for unauthorised sources. I find that such events not only affect the leaked titles but also carry spillover effects for other titles with a shared audience, suggesting the existence of strong switching costs associated with the illegal sources. I use a unique dataset on a sample of TV shows aired around the time of a pre-release leak of a large audience TV show (Game of Thrones). The results of a difference-in-differences analysis indicate that the leaked show lost viewership for both the leaked episodes and those that followed. More importantly, the event seems to have affected other TV shows that may share an audience with the leaked show. Finally, my results for the shows with a shared audience are corroborated by evidence of an increase in web searches for online sources of their episodes. These findings suggest that one-time events incentivising piracy can carry effects beyond the period and initial focus.

Suggested Citation

  • Wojciech Hardy, 2022. "Brace yourselves, pirates are coming! the effects of Game of Thrones leak on TV viewership," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 46(1), pages 27-55, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jculte:v:46:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10824-020-09404-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10824-020-09404-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    File-sharing; Copyright; Intellectual property rights; TV; Piracy; Game of thrones;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • Z11 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economics of the Arts and Literature

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