Lost in the Ratings: What Happens Now?
Friday February 16, 2007
Was it too many questions that continue to go unanswered? Was it the numerous timeslot changes? Could it have been the 6/16 episode split this season? Perhaps it was the concentration on The Others Alcatraz Island scenario? Whether it was any one of those questions or a combination of them all, the fact of the matter is that Lost has....well lost millions of viewers since season two. The latest offering of the series pulled in 12.8 million viewers - down six million from the 18.8 million who tuned in for the season premiere back in October.
Is the series in big trouble?
No worries, the series isn't in trouble and still remains in the Nielsen Top 20, but with viewers dropping at this rate, the series could very well be in serious trouble by the end of the season. Will people tune back in? Studies have shown that once a Lost viewer tunes out, they aren't likely to come back. TPTB over at Lost are promising answers in the coming months, with three big questions set to be answered in the upcoming episode, "Stranger in a Strange Land." Why are people tuning out? Bonnie Covel, our Guide to all things Lost weighs in on the problems that are currently plaguing the series: You're Wrong About Lost
Come on folks, get back on the Lost bandwagon -- the ride may be bumpy at times, but doesn't everyone love a good mystery?!
(Photo of Michael Emerson © 2007 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc./Bob D'Amico)
Comments
The problem with the Nielsen ratings is that they only take into consideration people watching the show live. Many people are watching Lost online now with ABC’s streaming video. And many more are DVRing, especially with the later time slot. I think Nielsen needs to catch up with technology.
And, like you said, it’s still in the top 20 and not going anywhere, and the die hard fans are going to remain die hard fans until the end, but the casual viewers who stopped watching really need to start watching again. It’s soooo good! Really!
I like Lost, but ended up missing shows because of time shifting, the more I missed the less I “needed” to tune in so they ought to consider a way to let people catch up on the story line. I record reruns in the hopes it’s one of the episodes I missed. However, I still like the show and record it regularly. But I’m probably the viewer advertisers hate, I very rarely watch a show live, I DVR it so I can skip the commercials, although I will watch one if it catches my eye as I spin through… Often I start watching about 15 into the program so by the end of the show I’ve caught up.
I always thought that making us wait months and months to see the next episode was a big mistake. I’ve talked to three people at work that said they “just don’t care” anymore because ABC left us hanging for way too long. It was a dumb move…. It was always a good show…. but ABC was banking on the loyalty way too much. There are lots of good shows out there. Dumb move ABC!!!!!