Along with several other upcoming shows, the pilot for ABC's The Nine was leaked during July of 2006. The pilot was made available for download via "torrents." The source of the video was apparently a preview DVD released by the network to a select few. The leak generates several questions.

Who Leaked The Nine's Pilot Was a mischievous network employee responsible for the leak of the TV show's pilot? Was theft involved? Or did ABC put the pilot out to generate buzz? Obviously we will never know the answer. Many times CDs have been released to Napster and the like by recording studio employees so the same could be true for The Nine leak. But there is a notable difference between a leaked CD and a leaked TV show. Once someone has a CD in their hot hands, it's unlikely they will fork over $10 to purchase it upon release. However, with a TV show...

Will ABC Benefit From The Leak With a TV show, there is little profit lost if a few tech-savvy folk grab the pilot early. Advertisers are unlikely to pull their sponsorship, for example. So there is little to be lost monetarily. However, the possibility for a big buzz build up is very real if the pilot catches on. And this buzz can propel a show from unknown, "could have been great" status to Lost-like levels of water cooler talk.

On the other hand, early bad buzz on the Internet could very well sink a floundering show. It's certainly happened with movies. But the chance of standing out from the bulging pack of new shows is so tempting that a pilot leak could very well benefit The Nine.

Either way, these leaks are becoming more frequent as the number of broadband internet subscribers increases. As channels of distribution improve, we may well see networks release shows onto the internet. The Nine leak could be a taste of things to come.