Two weeks ago ABC broadcast the final episode of Lost, a popular show that whose ratings I’ve been posting about every now and then. The last episode tallied 13.5 million viewers, which was more viewers than the season’s premiere (something that hasn’t happened since the first season) and the most viewers for any episode within two years.

As I’ve noted before, Lost consolidated a strong fan base during the first season, which led to a strong second season premiere. Over the course of that and later seasons however, the show steadily “lost” ratings. This could be attributed to a number of factors including its convoluted plot line, the 12 week hiatus the show took in the middle of the third season, the writers’ strike in 2007 which led to short fourth season, etc.

The show hit a ratings bottom in the twelth episode of the fifth season which had only 8.29 million viewers. The final sixth season saw a significant ratings bounce back, probably since a lot of viewers were interested in how the series was going to conclude.

Another factor that may have affected Lost’s downward ratings was overall viewership at ABC. The network was strong during the 2004-2005 season when Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy all premiered. Since then the network has had a few more hits, notably Dancing with the Stars, but has yet to produce another critically acclaimed drama. This season ABC did break out Modern Family this season, which I believe will run at least three seasons, but the “alphabet network” also lost the most viewers, both in general and in key advertising demos. It seems critical that ABC find some new strong shows during the 2010-2011 season.

Last night the final season of Lost began with a double episode premiere, garnering an average of 12.1 million viewers. The good news is that this is about 6% more than last season’s premiere, and it’s also the first time since Season 2 that a premiere has a larger audience than its precursor. The better news is that the audience growth over-indexed in the 18-49 demographic, attracting more than 10% than last season.

The problem is that comparing yesterday’s performance with last season is somewhat lax since new audience lows were marked for both the premiere and finale last year. The 11th episode of last season also garnered the smallest audience of any first-run Lost episode to date: 10.8 million during the 11th episode. This was a far cry from the performance of first half of Season 2 when Lost was attracting over 20 million viewers.

As I mentioned in a posting back in March 2009, Lost has “lost” its audience due to its complicated serialized plotline, a weakness which was exacerbated by a long hiatus in the middle of Season 3 as well the 2007 writer’s strike which delayed and shortened Season 4. Luckily this season seems to be free from any similar debilitations so the series might end up growing its audience over the course of its last season, which if it were to happen might yield a rumored Lost spin-0ff.

This past week one of my favorite television shows, Lost, ended its fifth and penultimate season. I am sad to say that I was not completely satisfied by the finale. Judging by the show’s ratings I may not be alone in my dissatisfaction. As analyzed in a previous posting the show seems to have  ‘lost’ audience during its run, perhaps as its storyline has become more convoluted and difficult to follow.

Unfortunately, the ratings did not improve during the last episodes of this season. This season’s finale, with an average audience of 9.27 million, set a new record low for any Lost season finale. At 9.27 million viewers it is less than half of what the first season’s finale attracted in May 2005, when the show’s audience was ascending rather than the pursuing the current course. This season’s finale also marks the fourth lowest audience for any Lost episode to date. Not a great way to finish. It may be comforting then that the series will conclude next year with its sixth and final season.

I have always been a huge fan of the TV show Lost so it is with some regret that I noticed that this week’s episode reached the series’ lowest audience to date: 8.82 million viewers.

While the show started strongly, with the second season premiere attracting more viewers than any episode during the first season, it seems that the series began to lose viewers during the middle of the second season, and then continued dropping thereafter.

The large gap in the middle of the third season is a the 12 weeks hiatus the series was put on, as a result of the decision to present new episodes back to back during two blocks in the fall and early spring. The second block was also coupled with a timeslot change, from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. These moves seem to have lowered the show’s audience substantially, with no episodes during this second block attracting over 15 million viewers.

The fourth season began late, about six months after the conclusion of the third season, partly as a result of the writers’ strike of 2007, which also shortened the series’ lifespan to 14 episodes. Still, the show returned to a 9:00 p.m. timeslot, which is why perhaps the initial episodes reached over the 15 million viewer mark, but after the midle of the season, the show began to lose audience.

The fifth and current season premiered about this January, after a six months absence, which in retrospect may have been too long. This season’s premiere of 13 million viewers was its lowest by far, and the episodes to date have also demonstrated a clear trend towards declining viewership.

Why has this audience drop occurred? Besides irregular scheduling and long absences, it seems to me that the show’s ability to maintain a mass audience has been adversely affected by its convoluted plot line. This style attracts many viewers such as myself, and is best explained by the show’s creator, J.J. Abrams, in this TED video.

[ted id="205"]

While many enjoy the mysteries, ‘mythology,’ and complex character relationships inherent to Lost, it demands such intense attention that it also seems to drive other viewers away. Besides alienating frustrated viewers, it seems to me that Lost has a bigger problem- attracting new viewers. Even with a relatively complex show like 24 a new viewer can tune in at the beginning of a season with relative ease, and enjoy the plotline almost as much as veteran viewer who has been watching the program since its inception. In the case of Lost, it is very difficult to come in at the beginning of any season past the second and feel welcome since there are so many groups and histories (Oceanic Survivors A, Oceanic Survivors B, Dharma Initiative, The Others, Charles Whitmore’s organization, etc.). Plus since last season with the time travel you have different chronological timelines that you have to track. Try explaining all this to a newbie, and as great as ABC has done with it’s Lost recaps and explanations, tragically it seems that the show’s style is inherently constructed to increase churn. However, I am sure that I’m not alone in saying that I’ll continue watching every episode.