Lost in TV Ratings?

An ABC Network favorite, Lost has captivated a large audience since its premiere back in 2004. At the end of its first season, the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series and averaged 16 million viewers per episode, ranking 14th in prime-time network shows that year.

Lost was a success; it was signed on again for another season. The second installment increased its strength with the show's niche audience demographic of 18 to 49 year olds…going from 15th to 8th place for that particular audience.

Lost is currently in its fourth season. The TV series will air for a total of six seasons, planning to end in May 2010.

However, Lost seems to have taken an unexpected turn. TV networks are out to make money and need shows that bring in the advertising dollars; Lost is not fitting the bill.

Despite a strong fourth season start with 16.1 million viewers, Lost is falling behind other competing network shows.

Recent Nielsen TV ratings show Lost is having trouble competing against CBS's CSI and Fox’s Are You Smarter Than a 5^th Grader? For April 3, Nielsen reported the following ratings/shares during Lost's Thursday 9 p.m. time slot:

CBS’s CSI 12.8/19
Fox’s Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? 6.6/10
NBC’s The Office 3.9/6
ABC’s Lost 3.1/5

Lost's share is higher than its rating, which is generally the case for any show. A rating is the percentage of people watching compared to the total number of households with television sets, while a share is the percentage of those watching a show compared to the total number of people watching television during that time. However, the difference between the two for Lost is not as much as for shows like CSI.

Lost was a repeat last week, so it's not surprising the show is in last place. ABC has been showing repeats since March 20, because of the WGA strike, which prevented episodes to be written and shot during that time. DVR ratings released by Nielsen also revealed that Lost is one of the most-recorded shows on television.

Lost does have a strong fan base, but increased DVR viewings have lowered the show's overall ratings. Trying to counteract this effect, ABC has moved Lost's time slot numerous times during its four seasons (either a 9 or 10 p.m. slot), giving the show higher comparative ratings. Lost is scheduled for a new time slot later this season (10 p.m. instead of 9 p.m.), which should help the show succeed with 18 to 49 year olds, without competitors like CSI for that audience.

While Lost's scheduled return on April 24 should bring the show back up to par in ratings, only time will tell.