Does Ben Backstory = Lost Ratings Glory?
The numbers are in! One would expect that any self respecting LOST fan would be tuning in to see the long awaited Ben back-story! How did it all end up? Read on to find out:
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Woop. First reply. Shame it’s a pointless one, eh?
Comment by Andy Spark — May 10, 2007 @ 11:50 pm
More people download the show, rather than watch it on TV.
Lost fans see their episodes twice! Ratings therefore are of minor importance.
The channel should exploit this Lost mania with a greater plan not just ratings - commercials. When you have a show that is anticipated around the world, then you probably have to react differently. Lost is something totally new for TV, and the show will make history in every field…
Comment by Bers — May 10, 2007 @ 11:56 pm
They need to lose the Neilson rating system all together. It’s not very reflective and get’s a lot of shows canceled and mishandled.
In our digital age I can’t understand why they can’t just have a box’s viewing info uploaded back to a database of some kind. You could find out what’s getting watched, what’s getting recorded. What’s rewatched. It would be much more accurate because it would be in the majority of homes.
But there I go talking sense again.
Comment by JakeNRoland — May 11, 2007 @ 12:12 am
How is it totally new?
Sci-fi drama presented in a ‘real’ light? Been done 100 times over.
Flashbacks? Not exactly new to television.
Episodes being character-centric? Not new either.
Sure, it’s good, but don’t go kidding yourself it is so original that it is “totally new”.
Comment by Andy Spark — May 11, 2007 @ 12:45 am
It’s good to see the ratings go up, but personally I dont think it really matters much since the LOST fan base is pretty much the same as it was before the episode. The shredding away of the fans was just a myth propagated by the media.
Well, as long the ratings please the execs it’s fine.
Comment by HS — May 11, 2007 @ 12:57 am
You will never get true indicators on how many watch Lost, when in Australia and other countries we are so far behind.
I think in Australia we are up to S3 ep 11. Im not sure about other people but i just cant live knowing that the US have seen ep 20.
Thats where Torrents are our best friend
Comment by Shano — May 11, 2007 @ 2:05 am
No offense, Shano, but ABC doesn’t really care how many people in Australia watch. They’re not selling ad time in Australia. Every person in Australia could conceivably watch the show, but if no one in America does, it gets cancelled.
Comment by icyone — May 11, 2007 @ 5:03 am
Yeah. Don’t kid yourself into thinking Lost is special. Actors? Done before. Sets? Oh, man. They’ve been doing that since like the 50s! Don’t even get me started on props.
Comment by RSL — May 11, 2007 @ 5:04 am
I think ABC does care a _little_ about foreign markets since they do _pay_ for the rights to air the show. It’s not like ABC is just handing episodes to them for free. Money is money. IMO
Comment by RSL — May 11, 2007 @ 5:05 am
People who are not devoted fans would have been horrified at the gassing of all the people on that episode. Casual Mass murder is not good TV. And It was also way too dark for kids.
My only hope is that the writers do not let Ben and the Others get away with this, and do not redeem them. I hope that the gassing is not “forgotten” in typiucal Lost fashion, and that there is a consequence to such unremorseful evil, even on Lost.
Noone, and not Those Dharma people, deserves such a cruel death. And, I hope not, but it may have turned alot of people off to the show.
I NOTICE THAT WHENEVER THEY WANT MORE RATINGS OR SHOCKING ENDINGS, THEY THINK THEY HAVE TO KILL OFF CHARACTERS, BUT THEY ARE DEAD WRONG:
Attention Producers: The fans do not want to see characters killed off- we’d rather see ANSWERS, answers to the hundreds of loose ends and questions, and what HAPPENS to the characters, interesting plot twists, action and FASTER DEVELOPMENTS IN THE CHARACTER’S LIVES. It is LAZY to just kill off characters for a cheap, temporary thrill. I can think of DOZENS of STORYLINES on CHARACTERS that don’t involve their death.
The only death that should happen now as far as I’m concerned is BEN for the gassing, or your audience will be LOST.
Comment by HawaiiHeaven — May 11, 2007 @ 5:13 am
Unless it’s been made before specifically, it is totally new. Nobody is disputing the influences. But LOST is LOST.
Comment by DocArzt — May 11, 2007 @ 5:48 am
That’s simply not true. As a matter of fact, the unwavering popularity of LOST in the foreign markets is part of what makes ABC react so casually to the ratings decline in the USA. They’ve gone on the record many times as saying the foreign markets have actually grown while US viewers have been tuning out. The international success is of great importance. I mean, they own the show. What makes you think there is no benefit for them to lease it?
Comment by DocArzt — May 11, 2007 @ 5:51 am
Kill off Ben? No way. Ben is one of the most interesting characters on the show, and any future flashbacks of his are sure to be incredibly revealing. If you want answers, Ben’s flashbacks are the way to go. No matter how many people he gasses.
Comment by jason — May 11, 2007 @ 6:21 am
I think part of what makes this season the best is the fact that it is allowed to be more adult. I think it should stay at the 10pm time slot just for the fact so we could have the more adult themed plot lines/scenes/dialogue. Come on now we’re not watching Nickelodeon here, this show is about sick twisted adults and how they either redeem themselves or spiral further down.
Comment by Muscle_Bob_Buff_Pants — May 11, 2007 @ 6:49 am
Answers on an “unparalleled level” ? Is that some sort of joke? It may have answered some some minor plot questions from the second season, but it revealed absolutely nothing in terms of all the mysteries introduced the FIRST season.
Comment by Mike — May 11, 2007 @ 6:53 am
I’m not saying there is no benefit. If Lost’s viewership in the states was as low as say, According to Jim or the George Lopez show (or hell, Drive or Firefly) it would be gone. If I have my facts straight, ABC doesn’t PAY Australian or European networks to air Lost, in fact, its exactly the opposite. Those networks purchase the right to air from ABC.
Lost is expensive to produce. If ABC were taking a loss (Ad Revenue - (Cost of Production+Marketing+etc) I’m not saying there is no benefit. If Lost’s viewership in the states was as low as say, According to Jim or the George Lopez show (or hell, Drive or Firefly) it would be gone. If I have my facts straight, ABC doesn’t PAY Australian or European networks to air Lost, in fact, its exactly the opposite. Those networks purchase the right to air from ABC.
Lost is expensive to produce. If ABC were taking a loss (Ad Revenue - (Cost of Production+Marketing+etc) < 0) in the states, you think it would be on the air? They’d have to REALLY be selling well in the foreign market to justify keeping it on the air.
I also think ABC’s “casual reaction” is largely due to the fact that, 1) the current ratings system is not indicative of actual viewership as many have pointed out and 2) Lost still has higher ratings than many other shows even if it is down from its high. A show like Lost can’t ALWAYS be gaining/maintaining viewers.
Comment by icyone — May 11, 2007 @ 7:03 am
That should have been If ABC were taking a loss (Ad Revenue - (Cost of Production+Marketing+etc) LESS THAN 0… and I should have known better than to use the symbol. =(
Comment by icyone — May 11, 2007 @ 7:24 am
Look, if you like the show and want it to survive, then quit bitching about it. Go somewhere else.
Need I say more? Come on people, this is entertainment.
Comment by jashrad — May 11, 2007 @ 8:34 am
Promotions for the show’s Finale keep promising us lots of deaths; 3 people die, noo FOUR! no, Five!
What will they do to add excitement next time- kill off seven characters?
Hey, I don’t want deaths for the Finale, I want answers, I want action!! Why do they think we need deaths of the characters for it to be exciting??
There can be exciting, adult storylines without killing off five characters!!
Instead of killing off intersesting characters, WHY don’t they have people LEAVE the island, go off island, there is a way, since we have seen Richard and ethan do it,…so why not explore that avenue and have some amazing chases??
They kill off characters to get out of giving answers, and to get out of deepening and exploring mysteries.
Comment by HawaiiHeaven — May 11, 2007 @ 10:29 am
Well as a avid reader of marketing tv analysis…it has been clearly reported that when you factor in DVR recordings, online viewing that LOST has only declined 1% in total viewers in the US. The report does not include the millions of people that wait for the DVD release. Let me also remind you that LOST (season 2) was the first TV Show ever to be #1 on the DVD Sales chart. LOST is huge, still is! And with the announcement of the ending of the series, it will continue to be so… (not that ratings indicate quality…I mean look at American Idol..please) This season has been the best hands down! Lets just move on from this…(Why arent people talking about how bad 24 has gotten or that ratings is down for all TV shows including Idol)
Comment by babaloo06 — May 11, 2007 @ 2:00 pm
This article is incorrect. The ratings were not above average for season three at all. In fact, figures are down some from last week.
Doc, I don’t know if you’re new to abcmedianet, but every week they write about 2-4 paragraphs for each show emphasizing the aspects of ratings in which the show was sucessful. ABC’s press release never says that this episode’s ratings were any better than those of the last episode.
Last episode was a 7.4/12. This was a 7.2/12.
thought you should know
Comment by berf — May 11, 2007 @ 2:55 pm
You know, I kind of agree with you, LOST producers do not need to keep killing off characters to keep me watching, i’d like them all to stay
but Ben , what goes around comes around.
Comment by LiLi — May 11, 2007 @ 7:34 pm
I think it is a must to keep to kill characters, to keep us on our toes, and to always expect the unexpected. I dont want to feel ’safe’ watching Lost, i want to be surprised and sometimes shocked, and never know who will or wont be there next week.
Also on the Rating issue, i understand Australia is nothing more then a drop in the ocean to ABC, and they are not responsible for when it shows over here, but i still think they should at least request other Countries to be current with the episodes.
Otherwise things like the Lost Experience and such are a thing of the past (yes we got season2 at the same time as you did)
I checked into a Australian Lost forum yesterday, and they were trying to avoid spoilers about if Mikal dies by the fence.
Comment by Shano — May 11, 2007 @ 10:27 pm
The ratings have gone down because so many people have short attention spans. They would rather watch intellectually devoid programming like American Idol. It is so bad that Lost even got moved to a different timeslot because of that crap. People want to watch stupid stuff like CSI and all its lame spinoffs which do the same basic thing every episode. People want to watch slutty doctors and housewives. Lost did so well when it first came on because it was still new. People are too impatient and lazy to stick with it, they just want to move on to something that doesn’t make you think. As for the remaining group of Lost viewers, if they want the show to do well they shouldn’t bitch so much about new characters and plot twists. Have some faith in the writers and producers.
Comment by thenumbersarebad — May 13, 2007 @ 9:21 am