Global Content Piracy Soared 18% in 2022 (Exclusive)

variety.com:

Tyler Aquilina Note: This article is an offshoot of Variety Intelligence Platform’s special report “The New Face of Content Piracy,” available exclusively to VIP+ subscribers. After dipping during the great COVID lockdown, media piracy has come roaring back.

The proliferation of popular streaming TV content and the return of robust wide-release film slates have helped drive steady increases in illicit viewing since 2020, according to exclusive data from piracy-focused research firm Muso.

This data measured 215 billion global visits to piracy websites in 2022, an 18% year-over-year increase compared with 2021. The U.S.

unsurprisingly had the largest share of film and TV demand (i.e., illicit streams, downloads and the like) of any country, with more than 13.5 billion visits to piracy sites.