Says the Supernatural fan who still thinks Smallville is a shit show. You need to be more accurate with your descriptions. Try to keep up.

It's funny that a fan of Supernatural:who's highest rated episode of the season doesn't have the numbers of Smallville's worst ratings of the season; has the nerves to call anything shitty.

Very disappointing numbers for Lost, especially the adults ratings which represents a series low.

The problem for Lost is DVR usage. If you've been tracking Lost's DVR numbers, they're simply incredible and they keep increasing every single week. I posted this over on TWoP, but I'll copy it here:

Week 1:
Live: 14.5 million
Live + 7: 17.8
Increase: 3.3 (#5 on all television)
%: 22.7 (#4 on all television)

Week 2:
Live: 13.5 million
Live + 7: 17.0
Increase: 3.5 (#5 on all television)
%: 25.5 (#3 on all television)

Week 3:
Live: 12.0 million
Live + 7: 15.7
Increase: 3.67 (#3 on all television)
%: 30.5 (#2 on all television)

Week 4:
Live: 11.7 million
Live + 7: 15.4
Increase: 3.71 (#1 on all television)
%: 31.6 (#1 on all television)

Week 5:
Live: 11.0 million
Live + 7: 15.0
Increase: 3.98 (#1 on all television)
%: 36.1 (#1 on all television)

Live + SD numbers for the last three episodes have decreased even further, so I have no doubt that the DVR numbers will increase even more, likely topping 40% with last night's episode. Why do people DVR Lost more than any other series? It's debatable. Lost has a rabid fanbase that rewatches episodes, it's been moved all over the place in the past 2 seasons, DVR usage in general is going up as live watching goes down, Lost fans are probably younger and more tech savvy than those of other series. Lost is the only series I watch live on tv and I look forward to it every single week. Even so, if something else comes up on a Thursday night, it's no big deal to download it later. Have you seen the number of people on Lost torrents? The next day, there are literally tens of thousands of people on each torrent. No other show comes close. So yes, Lost has lost some viewers, but a substantial portion have switched over to the Live + 7 category, and I'm sure more have switched over to the post 7 category as fans save episodes to watch in a block. That's the nature of Lost - it begs for contiguous viewing. I'm sure ABC would much prefer live viewers over DVR viewers, but that's the way to cookie crumbles.

The conundrum for ABC and network tv in general with regards to Lost: every series is going to be showing similar levels of DVR usage/downloading in a few years so the nets MUST find a way to make money out of it. If they can't they're toast.


As for last night's episode, it left me kind of cold until the end. She better not be dead - I want her flashback, DAMN IT. This season has had essentially two types of episodes: those that flashforward and give us glimpses into what happens after the O6 get off the island, and those that flashback to connect the dots. FB's before used to meander and some really didn't have a point, but the writers this season are chalking the FB's full of information and connections. I've like every episode so far this season, some more than others - particularly The Constant which is probably the best hour of the series so far. It's funny - one of my friends has never watched Lost (despite my begging) and flipped on the channel one night and sat through The Constant. I figured that episode would be a turnoff for new viewers given it's astounding complexity, but it had her completely hooked. Now she's going back and watching the entire series.

Where did you get those numbers from?

And why hasn't anyone been sharing those?
It would be nice if we could have a chart adding the network's shows DVR numbers at the end of every week.

quote:

Originally posted by jamhexxx:
It's funny that a fan of Supernatural:who's highest rated episode of the season doesn't have the numbers of Smallville's worst ratings of the season; has the nerves to call anything shitty.

Exactly.

It's a shame it didn't do better though, since last night we had one great episode.

quote:

Originally posted by galveston:
Says the Supernatural fan who still thinks Smallville is a Great show. You need to be more accurate with your descriptions because I am an idiot and not able to keep up.

Fixed again.

quote:

Originally posted by Justin:
Where did you get those numbers from?

And why hasn't anyone been sharing those?
It would be nice if we could have a chart adding the network's shows DVR numbers at the end of every week.

TVbythenumbers.com has them every week (2 weeks after the week in the data). The problem is, only the top 20 in DVR viewers and the top 20 in percentage increase come out.

quote:

Originally posted by Holly:

quote:

Originally posted by Justin:
Where did you get those numbers from?

And why hasn't anyone been sharing those?
It would be nice if we could have a chart adding the network's shows DVR numbers at the end of every week.

TVbythenumbers.com has them every week (2 weeks after the week in the data). The problem is, only the top 20 in DVR viewers and the top 20 in percentage increase come out.

Top 20 is fine, for now.

Because the number 30 show probably only adds 400,000, if that, which is almost nothing.

But in 5 years when DVR is all that is used, then we better have a full chart. But by then, I think there will be a way to measure DVR numbers.

quote:

Originally posted by mushu_jj:

quote:

Originally posted by Obveeus:
Neither CSI:Miami nor Grey's Anatomy is the #1 scripted show on TV.

You're right. That's American Idol, er... CSI.

Now that you mention it, American Idol is scripted. It is just that they are using mostly scripts from 20-40 years ago.

quote:

Originally posted by Justin:
Because the number 30 show probably only adds 400,000, if that, which is almost nothing.

But in 5 years when DVR is all that is used, then we better have a full chart. But by then, I think there will be a way to measure DVR numbers.

There is a way to measure DVR numbers now (Nielsen data)...which is why TVbytheNumbers has the chart. What the data shows is that Lost has dropped 3.5million viewers and only added 700,000 DVR viewers. That is still a big net loss. Now, factor in that the most recent airing of Lost dropped another 1.5+million viewers from the most recent data listed in that chart and no one should be claiming that Lost isn't suffering some significant drop.

5 years from now, if everyone is watching via timeshift, you can kiss TV as you know it goodbye because advertisers won't pay for that. So, everything will be pay per view or pay channels. 'Free' Broadcast TV will be gone.

quote:

5 years from now, if everyone is watching via timeshift, you can kiss TV as you know it goodbye because advertisers won't pay for that. So, everything will be pay per view or pay channels. 'Free' Broadcast TV will be gone.

That's the rub. Lost really is the canary in the coalmine. 25% of its viewers are timeshifted, well above the DVR % in the Nielsen sample. If the networks can't find a way to make money from this, they are toast, and soon. Expect much more product integration in the near future, a la The Biggest Loser.

It's quite ironic that people are enjoying their favorite series by DVR, because they're also killing them by using DVR.

There has been some Lost erosion this season, but not as much as the overnight numbers would suggest. Even the Live+7 don't show viewers who are watching beyond the 7 day timeframe, or those who wait for the DVDs. And that's a significant portion of the audience as Lost always tops the DVD sales chart. And again, we're just talking erosion week-to-week, because numbers are still way significantly after factoring in DVR viewers.

I think the CW will keep Reaper on Thursday and move Supernatural to another night. Movies will probably end up on Friday.

quote:

Originally posted by WlcmYourMmDtDanceUndrcovr:
If Reaper survives past May (and I think it is a toss up right now), I see CW dumping it on Fridays as its not a project that the heads of CW favors. CW plays favorites more than any other main network.

quote:

Originally posted by DB108:
There has been some Lost erosion this season, but not as much as the overnight numbers would suggest.

As I posted before, the Live+7 doesn't change the rate of erosion much.

From the premiere to the Feb 28th airing (the last one we have Live+7 numbers on), Lost dropped 3.2 million in the Live+SD ratings (16.1-12.9) and 2.9 million in Live+7 ratings (17.8-14.9). No, it didn't lose quite as much when you include the Live+7, but the difference is only 300-400,000 viewers.

quote:

Originally posted by DB108:
Expect much more product integration in the near future, a la The Biggest Loser.

This is why 'Reality TV' is so important to the boradcast networks. it is easy to integrate sponsor products into a show like Biggest Loser, but much hard with a show like Lost. After all, which Airline wants to sign on as the corporate sponsor for Lost?

quote:

It's quite ironic that people are enjoying their favorite series by DVR, because they're also killing them by using DVR.

Even more ironic when you hear them brag about how much smarter they are because they use a DVR.

quote:

There has been some Lost erosion this season, but not as much as the overnight numbers would suggest. Even the Live+7 don't show viewers who are watching beyond the 7 day timeframe, or those who wait for the DVDs.

Any viewers beyond 3 days are worth nothing. Same goes for DVD buyers. They may help the studio, but don't help the network. So, unless a show is willing to cut its license fee to the network in order to get more episodes aired (something you only see from the long running/successful shows), DVD sales don't make any difference at all to renewal/cancellation.

quote:

And that's a significant portion of the audience as Lost always tops the DVD sales chart.

How's its syndication income?

quote:

And again, we're just talking erosion week-to-week, because numbers are still way significantly after factoring in DVR viewers.

I'm not sure what that meant, but any way you slice it, Lost has lost 20% or so of its viewers since this season started.

quote:

Originally posted by Obveeus:

quote:

Originally posted by Justin:
Because the number 30 show probably only adds 400,000, if that, which is almost nothing.

But in 5 years when DVR is all that is used, then we better have a full chart. But by then, I think there will be a way to measure DVR numbers.

There is a way to measure DVR numbers now (Nielsen data)...which is why TVbytheNumbers has the chart. What the data shows is that Lost has dropped 3.5million viewers and only added 700,000 DVR viewers. That is still a big net loss. Now, factor in that the most recent airing of Lost dropped another 1.5+million viewers from the most recent data listed in that chart and no one should be claiming that Lost isn't suffering some significant drop.

5 years from now, if everyone is watching via timeshift, you can kiss TV as you know it goodbye because advertisers won't pay for that. So, everything will be pay per view or pay channels. 'Free' Broadcast TV will be gone.

I highly doubt that. I bet what would happen is advertisements every 15 minutes or so, like they do online, the ones where you can't avoid it.