After five seasons Game of Thrones remains the most pirated TV show (see “Geek TV Shows Take Four of Top Five Most Pirated Slots”), but how long will it reign supreme over the airwaves (and downloads)?  Michael Lombardo, President of Programming at HBO, indicated today that current plans call for the series, which has set a new high water mark for the popularity of dark fantasy on TV and is currently shooting its sixth season, to last for eight seasons. 

From comic books to tabletop games Game of Thrones has spun off a slew of licensed products, so its continued existence matters.  According to Deadline, Lombardo told the Television Critics Association that showrunners “David (Benioff) and Dan (Weiss) are feeling there are two more years after season six so that’s what we are looking at now.  We hope they will change their mind, but that’s how they are feeling now.”

Lombardo was very open to the idea of a Game of Thrones prequel, noting that the pay cable Net would be “open to anything they (Benioff and Weiss) want to do,” adding “there is an enormous amount of storytelling possible in that world.”

Lombardo also defended the violence on the series, noting that it was there from the very first episode and not just in Season Five—and the HBO Prexy stated definitively that “Jon Snow is indeed dead.”