‘Game of Thrones’ season 5 going global with premiere

When “Game of Thrones” season 5 premieres, there is definitely one thing that you really should expect to see: The episode at the same time, regardless of where you are living.

In a move that we have seen before between “Doctor Who” and even recently on “World CSI Day,” HBO announced on Tuesday that the big April 12 episode is going to be airing at the same time in 170 different countries around the world. Not only that, but this tradition could continue through the entirety of season 5. (We do imagine that some local broadcasters will find a way to program episodes at a time when most people with jobs can see them, though.)

In a statement today, HBO Programming head Michael Lombardo said the following:

“We are thrilled to see our international partners jumping on board to bring Game of Thrones, one of the most universally loved television shows in the world, to global audiences at the same time it airs on HBO in the U.S. … It’s going to be a great season.”

This really is a huge move for the network, mostly for one simple reason: Making a real, definite effort at avoiding piracy. This show has become the most-pirated series on television, with the biggest reasons seemingly being it not airing for many months in other countries, and also it being very expensive to people without a standard cable package. The standalone HBO NOW app is at least one solution to the latter problem now. No doubt there will still be pirates out there, but these are the moves that the network should be making:

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