Variety.com (and many others) are reporting that the Supergirl pilot episode has leaked to torrent sites worldwide. There are two copies of the pilot available, one that is around 400MB but lacks the HD 1080p resolution, and a much larger file format that is HD ready. Further more, the leaked pilot doesn't seem to contain any watermarks or "property of" warnings. The files became available Friday around 3am EST and as of 9:30am EST they have been downloaded over 120,000 times. Variety offered this piece of information about Hollywood procedures and leaked pilots:
It’s rare for a pilot for a new TV show to leak out onto piracy sites — especially so far in advance of the premiere date. On the one hand, the early leak of “Supergirl” could put a damper on initial ratings. However, it could also serve to drive audience to the show and build buzz leading up to the fall season. TV networks have released pilots in advance of show debuts as a marketing tool but never this far in advance.
In our coverage of this show, we have tried to keep our opinions to a minimum. That actually doesn't happen much since the very nature of this site it to support a show we are so very excited for. That said, allow us a moment to express our personal feelings about the leak. This comes from our site's owner/administrator and his opinion is shared by our staff:
This was a day I was really hoping wouldn't come. I suppose in 2015, it would be impossible to expect something like "Supergirl" to stay on a shelf until November. Variety offered a great point of view in that sometimes pilots are leaked purposely from the network to increase buzz and future ratings. But like they also said, a leak this early doesn't really seem to make sense. The trailer is almost up to 11 million views already. That far out performs other TV trailers online. The buzz about Supergirl is huge! Our email goes off every couple of minutes with a new news alert about another Supergirl story. It doesn't make strategic sense to release the pilot purposefully now.
Ultimately the decision to download the show and watch it now will come to you. One of the hardest lessons to learn as a human is to delay gratification. This certainly falls into that category for us. We will NOT be downloading the pilot or watching it ahead of time. If CBS or WB were to come to us and allow us to watch the pilot in an official capacity so that we could write a review for you the fans, that would be amazing and we certainly would welcome the opportunity. But downloading it now seems cheap. This isn't how we want to start our relationship with the show. So ... should you go ahead a download the pilot and watch it now, know that this site has not seen it yet. We will continue to report the news on the show as it becomes available and we will strive to give you the best coverage possible, but inline with the wishes of the studio. I hope that our choice to wait until November is one that will support the show and will give us more episodes in the future.
Thank you for allowing me my personal moment, ~Supergirl.tv Administrator
Share your thoughts on the pilot being release. Are you going to watch it? Are you going to wait? Let us know in the comments below or as always join the discussion in our forum!
