Yahoo Movies 'Star Trek: Discovery' pilot becomes one of the most pirated TV episodes in less than 24 hours
The list of the top 100 most pirated television episodes on The Pirate Bay is dominated by the likes of “Game of Thrones,” “Rick and Morty,” and “American Horror Story,” but a rookie title has already broken into the top 20 in under 24 hours, and it’s name is “Star Trek: Discovery.” The latest television entry in the long-running space franchise, “Discovery” debuted its pilot episode on CBS, while its second episode and all future episodes will debut on CBS All Access.
The pilot is already #15 on the most pirated episodes list, which makes sense given “Star Trek’s” enthusiastic fan base and the fact that viewers need to subscribe to CBS All Access to watch the series. Television viewers without cable and/or unwilling to pay for the streaming service to watch the new series are behind the high volume of illegal downloads. The second episode, which debuted on CBS All Access immediately following the pilot’s cable premiere, is in Pirate Bay’s top 30 as well.
Reviews of the first episode have been largely positive, with IndieWire’s Liz Shannon Miller giving “Discovery” a B+ review. “‘Star Trek: Discovery,’ the first new ‘Trek’ series in 16 years, feels welcomely familiar and also surprisingly fresh,” she writes, “bringing together established iconography and new ideas for a series that, based on the first three episodes screened for critics, exists in a space where nothing, including the status quo, is safe.”
While a majority of fans are illegally downloading the pilot, it appears many are also tapping into their wallets and signing up for CBS All Access in order to watch new episodes each week. The network announced that the premiere episode drew a record number of new sign-ups to CBS All Access. New installments will be available to stream Sunday nights starting at 8:30pm ET.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
Related stories
'Star Trek: Discovery' Premiere Prompts Record Number of Trekkers to Sign Up for CBS All Access
'Star Trek: Discovery': What to Expect From Episode 3 and Why the Show Will Always Respect Canon
