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The Grand Tour, Amazon's big-budget reboot of Top Gear, has become the most illegally downloaded program in history, according to figures from piracy data analysts, Muso.
The first episode of the program, featuring former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, was pirated 7.9 million times, according to data shared with the UK's Mail On Sunday.
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Its second and third episodes were also heavily pirated at 6.4 million and 4.6 million illegal downloads, respectively.
The news will be distressing for Amazon Prime Video, who had reportedly invested $250 million into the series over a proposed three seasons, in a bid to compete globally with rivals Netflix.
Amazon's The Grand Tour has become the most illegally downloaded show in history.
"It is off the scale in terms of volume," Chris Elkins, Muso's chief commercial officer told the Mail, noting that the loss of revenue in Britain alone – home to the largest number of the show's piraters, 13.7 per cent of total culprits – could total £3.2 million ($5.4 million).
"It has overtaken every big show, including Game Of Thrones, for the totals across different platforms," Elkins said.
Grand Tour was launched quietly in Australia in late November, with Amazon Prime Video releasing its geo-block to allow local audiences to stream the show for a monthly subscription fee of $US10.99 ($14.80) or £7.99 ($13.50).
The streaming giant, which produces its own original series including Emmy and Golden Globe winners Transparent and Mozart In The Jungle, remains largely restricted in Australia, due to programs' previous broadcasting partnerships with the likes of Foxtel and Stan.
Speaking to the Mail, a spokesperson for Amazon downplayed the piracy figures.
"The Grand Tour has become the biggest show premiere on Amazon Prime Video, breaking records around the world," they said, joyfully.
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