Wednesday, September 27, 2006
"Lost" Season Two Loses Ground In UK
Just as we get ready for season three of "Lost," season two concludes its run in the UK on Channel 4. Season One averaged 4.1 million viewers. Season Two averaged 2.7 million, with the episodes leading up to the finale falling as low as 1.9 million. "Desperate Housewives" made good at least with the critics. Can "Lost" do the same or is its plot so tied up in knots that it would take Alexander the Great to undo it.
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How much does iTunes cut into a show like Lost in Europe? I have a friend from Germany who buys each episode when it's available, so why would he tune in later?
Very good point. Of course, the studio shouldn't care whether you watch it on TV, buy it on iTunes or buy it on DVD. But that could be agrowing influence on overseas ratings -- not to mention US ratings down the road. Typically, I'd say they reflect each other rather than online sales cutting into a show. In other words, a big hit would also see a lot of online sales. While a flop would see very few. Perhaps only a cult-y show like Lost or Battlestar Galactica (with its online fanbase) might swing hard one way or the other. But sure, down the road, a big hit in the US getting tons of press and sounding cool -- why would someone in the UK or Australia wait for the TV show to come to their network when they could start watching it right away? And then the launch on TV flops. But if they see extraordinary online sales, presumably that would take the sting. But still, paying $2 an episode overseas to see something in advance should remain a little rare -- and if they like the show a lot,. paying for it and telling everyone about it should boost ratings. Finally, the US show dropped in ratings season two because of tough competition and because it sucked creatively -- not just or at all, I think, because people waited to pay $2 to buy episodes. No reason to think the same thing wouldn't happen overseas.
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