During yesterday morning’s earnings call, Time Warner CEO Alan Bewkes was making the usual pitch for higher affiliate fees, greater appreciation of the company’s TV shows and films and…. piracy?

In response to a question from investors as to whether the company see’s the mass theft of the show Game of Thrones as a compliment, Bewkes said:

I have to admit it, I think you’re right. The much-discussed fantasy series is HBO’s most popular TV show, and if you go to people who are watching it without subs, it’s a tremendous word-of-mouth thing…. We’ve been dealing with this for 20, 30 years—people sharing subs, running wires down the backs of apartment buildings. Our experience is that it leads to more paying subs. I think you’re right that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world and that’s better than an Emmy. – Alan Bewkes

We have always known that HBO take a more “unusual” approach in terms of tackling piracy, but to have the exec. of Time Warner come out and say that having the most pirated show in the world is “better than an Emmy” is completely unheard of.

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