Caprica pilot seen by 1,5 million people before the premiere

Airlock Alpha talked to SyFy president Dave Howe about the decision to release the Caprica pilot on DVD so early and to stream it on their site, as well as about how this might impact the premiere numbers. You can read the whole article here.

Since releasing the entire pilot episode online several weeks back (and months after first releasing it on DVD), more than 1.5 million people have watched the "Caprica" pilot through the Internet or on DVD, according to trade publication Multichannel News. The episode has been offered through Syfy.com, Hulu, and other places. (...)

"The more people that we encourage to watch that pilot and come in for the series, the better off we'll be," Howe said at the time. In deciding whether or not to offer "Caprica" early to the masses, Howe said he and the bosses "talked about it endlessly."

"It's the risk we took in releasing it on DVD first, and the risk we take in streaming it," he said. "In this climate, with the audience we have, it's the right thing to do. We have this amazing techno-savvy audience that isn't going to always watch linear TV like a linear audience."

Those who watched the pilot already still might want to tune in, Howe teased. There will be some new features included in Friday's airing as well as a "supertease" of the rest of the season.