Thursday’s night faceoff between CSI and Grey’s Anatomy isn’t the only ”What do I watch?” quandary anymore. This Wednesday, Lost finished first in its 9 p.m. slot, but edged out second-place Criminal Minds (wha?) by only 200,000 viewers — which in the ratings universe translates to practically nothing. Lost’s numbers are also way down from last season: between 4 and 5 million more people got revved up for season 2’s first few episodes than season 3’s.
So what’s going on? Is Criminal Minds that amazing, or is Lost losing some of its juice? I don’t want to suggest the show has (don’t say it… don’t say it…) maybe jumped the Dharma Initiative-logo-imprinted shark, but there has to be some reason for the dip in ratings. Is it that the slew of Others (like Elizabeth Mitchell, pictured with Matthew Fox) aren’t as compelling right off the bat as some of the more beloved but (so far this season) forgotten original survivors? Is it that viewers know they can watch the shows online? Or is the ratings scare a Dharma conspiracy intended to measure our reaction? Come on, lab rats, turn the TV back on. There’s a nice fish biscuit in it for you…
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I think people want their serving of ‘Lost’ without commercials; think of it as one continous 42 minute ride. If you include DVR viewings of it, I’m sure the 200,000 viewer gap will considerably increase.
Perhaps people are just tiring of the glacial pace at which the show reveals its many secrets. Personally, I still enjoy it, but, many of my friends and family have gotten tired of watching with such little pay off. All the breaks between new episodes last season didn’t help either.
I think it is because, in order for viewers to really appreciate what is going on, you have to have seen most of the other two seasons. For the first and second season, new viewers were able to get caught up. But if you haven’t watched it before Season 3, watching 2 whole seasons on DVD in order to jump in to what is going on is asking a lot. I LOVE complex shows (I was a huge Alias fan and felt the sting when they tried to make it “easier to follow”), but having to know the history really keeps new viewers from tuning in. Thus, they will only be able to lose viewers, if they are never gaining new ones. Still, viewership for this show is still high, compared to what else is on tv.
i agree with rahul. i’ve been trying desperately to catch up to the show. i just finished season 1 in 3 days (that’s 24 episodes yo!). i think it is a great show, but i also know nothing of how slow it is played besides the the dvd rhythm. i can tell it’s a slow reveal kind of show, but having no commercials makes it go at a great pace. one heck of a ride
Apparently CBS has put a different spin on the ratings. According to TV Guide.com, the network issued the following press bulletin:
“Criminal Minds beat Lost in households for the first time ever and finished in a near dead heat with Lost in viewers in the 9-10 pm hour and attracted more viewers than Lost from 9:30-10 pm.”
My theory is that Lost is so painfully slow and unwieldy with its ever-growing cast that many viewers prefer to watch complete seasons on DVD.
And as much as I admire the great J.J. Abrams, his shows tend to lose steam after a couple of seasons!
i’m sorry, but Criminal Minds is the WORST crime show on TV (ok, second worst — Numbe5s is mind-numbingly bad). WHO is watching it???? I’ve watched it a few times, last season, and it just BIT. Like laugh-out-loud awful.
I actually prefer watching Lost online or on DVD or iTunes — it really breaks the rhythm and mood to have tampon and detergent commercials in between the goings on in the Hydra.
I agree with JenJen, a friend of mine decided to watch Season 3 without seeing 1 & 2. SHe is giving up after 2 shows. At this point it is normal that their viewership goes down
Annie, Stephen King pointed out the problem with lost in his column a few years ago. He noted that the viewing public got seriously burned by the X Files a few years ago, and unless we got the feeling that Lost was taking us to a legitimate end point, people would drop off like irate customers in a slow service line.
IMHO, ending season 2 with ANOTHER cliffhanger probably turned a lot of viewers off. There also seems to be a growing resentment among critics and bloggers (and I’ll assume the general public) with the glut of serialized shows on tv right now. From my understanding, people always hated the 2 part episodes back in the day, so why would they dig part 46 of a 100+ part episode?
Finally, many of last season’s unresolved story lines haven’t gotten solved (or even mentioned in some cases), and these Others have proven to be about as charismatic as Ana Lucia proved sympathetic (which is to say, not at all). Which reminds me, how many more characters to they plan to kill off just as we are starting to like them? We lost a good 3 last season, and it looks as if the killing (which started early this season) will only get more frequent.
I don’t want to say the show’s jumped the shark quite yet, but they need to give us reason to believe things will wind down this or next year. Otherwise, Stephen King’s prophecy may prove correct…
I don’t consider “Lost” at all sluggish. However, it’s a long process. If people want TV shows to be more like fast food, rather than a long, sit-down dinner, then “Lost” is maybe not for them (though I’d consider each episode a tasty little meal in itself).
My fondness for “Lost” brings me back even with the inevitable down times between clumps of shows (which every other show has, but whatever), but there are many shows I wouldn’t stick with over the long haul. For other people, “Lost” is one of those shows that they don’t consider as much of a priority, for myriad reasons. There are a lot of things on TV to watch, more than what any one person should commit to. Add on DVRs (or VCRs, for some of us still) and the growing normalcy of TV-shows-on-DVD, and viewers aren’t required to play by networks’ time-slot rules. I’m guessing there are people who are willing to just buy — or rent via Netflix — the whole “Lost” season later when it comes to DVD, and they can watch shows whenever they want, stopping to rewatch or skipping what bores them.
I am tired of the whiners of Lost. The show is just as good and compelling as it was at the start. I’ve heard constant complaining about getting answers which would cause the show to be wrapped up after one season. Remember the negative comments about Desperate Housewives in season one? The show wasn’t as compelling was it? Now those that are giving up will probably cause the show to lose to crap like Criminal Minds. Thanks a lot losers.
My brother is a HUGE Lost fan, when I asked him what he thought of Season 3 so far, he said he never watches them live. He waits for the DVDs after the season is done. He says there are too many commercials and too many re-runs throughout the year. Maybe that’s part of Lost’s problem
I was the biggest Lost fan for Season 1.
Season 2 came along, and I found myself wishing they’d “get to the point”.
Now, Season 3 is here, and it’s all about the Others. Yawn. It’s no longer about surviving on a mysterious haunting – it’s “The Prisoner” redux.
I really love this show, but they’re starting to lose me. Sorry.
The producers should end “Lost” this season. It’s boring, waiting for them to reveal all the secrets, which at this point, I think there is none. The writers just keep piling mysteries upon mysteries without giving any answers. My support for “Lost” diminished in Season 2, when Jack stupidly willing to sacrifice everyone for the sake of a POSSIBLE ENEMY by not entering the code in the computer, and when Hurley threw food away instead of giving it to other survivors (whether or not they receive more food is beside the point), when only Sayid suspected that Michael had betrayed them (for Michael to pick Hurley to go to war against the Others is just idiotic and unbelievable, but nobody suspected him. Who would go to war bringing a fat dude who can’t even use a gun when a top-notch soldier like Sayid is available?), and when Michael got away free for killing 2 people. J.J. Abrams, please end your show when it’s still watchable. Don’t make it turned into “Alias” Season 4 and 5, which were absolutely pathetic and mind-numbing.
I’m just curious to know how many people skip the wednsesday night show with all it’s commercials and watch it on abc.com starting thursdays. ABC should take them into consideration. I realy doubt anyone is watching Criminal Minds on cbs.com
I’ve said this elsewhere, but that “glacial pace” that Scott mentoned is exactly why “24″ is a much more satisfying show. It throws about three or four different story arcs at you each season and then lets you enjoy every minute of the rollercoaster ride!
Small wonder that “24″ received multiple kudos at the Emmys and “Lost” got snubbed.
love this show, but season 2 really had some excitement issues, so i’m sure people dropped off then and then with all the repeats last season. by season 3, it’s prob natural to have some sort of drop off.
that being said, i do kind of miss a lot of the original characters and wish they’d focus on them again a bit more.
despite all the new mysteries, i’ll still be watching.
Don’t put the whole show on JJ Abrams; he wasn’t even around for Season 2 since he was working on MI:3. This show has is being cared for by a couple showrunners. The reason ‘Criminal Minds’ even pulls in viewers, like every other cop show is because that’s what the viewership wants these days. It’s entertainment for the masses at the end of the day; merely a phase and a trend which I think has gone way out of control (look at the schedules of CBS and NBC: both loaded with this crap). And, Harry please never lose sight of the fact that there are loads of talented people who work on ‘Lost’.
The rumors of Lost’s demise has been greatly exaggerated. First off, while the show did indeed lose 5 million viewers since the Season 2 opener, it undoubtedly lost many of them to ratings juggernaut American Idol. But they ALL returned for the Season 3 opener, which had the same ratings for the finale.
Secondly, with the availability of the DVD’s, streaming video, and iTunes, I think many people aren’t worried abotu missing it on Wednesday because they knwo they can catch it later on.
Finally, on a personal level, while I do feel that the show lost a bit during the second season, I really don’t see how it could not, given that the first season was quite possibly the best season of television I’ve ever seen. And I absolutely loved the first two episodes this
season as well.
Lost should really try and figure some way of incorporating downloads and the streaming video views into their ratings.
Does this take into account people who DVR the show and watch it later?
Big surprise: I agree with Jay, Season 1 of ‘Lost’was the best season of TV ever.
The real question remains – how many people will watch the show after its long hiatus? That is what will be telling when it comes to numbers. They should have pulled a 24 and started in Jan and went till May – not lets put on x episodes and then have everyone wait 4 months for new shows
All of JJ Abrams’s shows diminish over time – Felicity, Alias, and now Lost have squandered viewer commitment somewhere around season 3 because it’s clear that whatever strong vision launched these shows gets muddled over time and with new writers. And 2 other shows credited to “JJ’s mind” – What About Brian and 6 Degrees – suffer even more quickly when the direct influence of creative vision is cast off to other writers or show runners. I hope for JJ’s sake that he gains some momentum in film writing and directing after MI:3, since it appears his genius has the short shelf life more suitable to a 2-hour film than a long-running TV show. Joss Whedon, however, has the sustainable staying power required for TV – perhaps Lost would be reinvigorated were the reins to enter his hands.
Most of my friends are obsessed with the show, yet they wait until it comes out on DVD. They’re more than willing to shell out the 50 bucks for the DVD, and then watch the seasons within a week. I wind up losing contact with them for a week when this happens. Obviously, the show is making a good deal of money on DVD sales and its likely that how most people are going. Its just easier that way.
Rahul, all of the actors in “Lost” are brilliant. I just hate the way the sloppiness of Season 2. It’s like “Desperate Housewives” Season 2: Bree’s daughter was 15 years old and should celebrate her 16 birthday, but they celebrated her 17 birthday. Now its Season 3 is equally retarded with Lynette letting Norma bullies her. For a businesswoman to let a lowlife woman such as Norma doing the bully? Impossible. Back to the point, if “Lost” solves all of its mysteries this season or next then it’d be excellent. I don’t want it to end like “The X-Files,” “Alias,” and many other shows. “Ugly Betty” and “Heroes” are the best new shows to me this fall. “24″ and “Veronica Mars” are also fantastic.
The biggest source of revenue is still advertisers. As long as they foot the bill and November sweeps exist, this model will continue to be the norm. It would be interesting to compare how much money each of these shows pulls in total through traditional TV ads, DVD, online-sponsored viewings, and pay-downloads.
Harry, I wasn’t a big fan of Season 2 either, but guess who wasn’t there to look over things? JJ Abrams. Maybe this season will be better with him back. He did co-write the premiere.
The entire premise of “Lost” operates on gullibility of the audience. Enough with the suspense! You can only extend a mystery for so long. In this day and age, people want resolutions to problems, not more questions. The show has gotten more and more unbelieveable with each ep.
Claire is another one I hate. Charlie risked his life to save her and once she found out he’s a drug addict, she just forbid him to see the baby Aaron instead of helping him recover. What an ungrateful bee yatch! I don’t care if all of the survivors die, as long as Sayid, Sun, Jin, Kate, Rose, and Bernard are alive.
I was obsessed with Lost for the first season. It was the best show on TV since Buffy – which is saying a lot. But by the middle of the second season it was just exhausting watching the show – they never got to the freaking point! No questions were answered and it seemed like the writers and producers were just starting to reach for the next shocking and confusing thing. And I also feel like the substance behind the storys began to take a back seat as the show progressed.
And the whole Lost obsession thing was kind of irritating.
Thanks, CEEJ. I completely agree with you.