"American Idol" results show on Wednesday night helped FOX's freshman sitcom "Till Death" reach a new series high with 14,65 million viewers. Could we be looking at a new "House"-style phenomenon?
When the comedy premiered last fall paired with that "Happy Hour" stinker FOX was brazen enough to put on air it averaged 5-6 million viewers. Now with improved writing and a powerhouse lead-in, the sitcom grew over 600,000 viewers week-to-week.
Elsewhere, a truly outstanding episode of ABC's "LOST" once again fell to a new all-time low of 11,97 million viewers. Someone at the network needs to be fired for ruining this great drama's ratings.
"Friday Night Lights" continues to struggle with 5,46 million viewers (still a 330K bump); Crossing Jordan plummets to 6,13 million (the axe sharpens); and CSI: NY topped LOST in total viewers, but the John Locke Story was superior in the crucial 18-49 demo with a 20% advantage and #1 place in the timeslot. Perhaps the ratings of "LOST" are not as bad as they seem.
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Justin, I'm quite concerned about the ratings for Lost. I really thought they bottomed out at 12 million but now I'm not so sure. The last episode which I thought was the strongest episode this season hit another viewership low. I can't see it as people abandoning it now, as since the hiatus only one really bad episode of Lost has aired (Jack's silly episode). What do you think is going on? Do you think ABC is going to do something or is it too late now to do anything for the rest of the season? What a shame. I'm bummed.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to be a little concerned myself, Roland. The drama has lost one million viewers over the past couple of months (that's on top of the two million lost during that completely unnecessary winter hiatus).
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, LOST did win the timeslot in the crucial 18-49 demo, it did build on its lead-in and it most definitely put out an episode creatively superior even to Desmond's unforgettable kick-ass flashback. That makes Wednesday's LOST a winner in my book.
Now, ABC did renew LOST for a fourth season, so even if the ratings plummet to ridiculous lows of 5 million viewers (which I hope never happens), this show is too significant of a pop culture phenomenon to succumb to a premature cancellation. ABC will give it a proper ending.
The question is: when? Do we get a fifth season? Do we really want one? The writers want to end the story after 100 episodes and that's exactly the number of episodes they will have produced by May 2008. If they feel the story will have run its course by then, who are we to oppose them?
The good news is - the show is on the right creative track and this may be a temporary slump. We'll just have to see what happens by the end of May and when the next season premieres.
Agreed, ABC made two huge mistakes, the hiatus and the change in timeslot. I think yes perhaps the first 6 episodes concentrating on the Others might have turned fans off. They should have done 11 and 11 or 8, 8 and 6 or something instead of this 6 and 16. 10pm is not the right time for this show obviously. Perhaps they should move it back to 8? But I think that if they get freaked out because of ratings falling further (9 or 10 million for example), moving it this season will alienate people even more. At least we have a guaranteed 4th. If they do it 24 style and move it to another time slot next year with a decent leadin, we should have a shot at a 5th. But 5 seasons I think is the right time for it to end, and it is my favorite show! Creatively they are back on track, lets hope the bleeding stops soon.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend Justin!