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The final episode of "Lost"
was extra-long and attempted to sew up myriad loose plot strands with an
emotionally complex denouement. But it still didn't come close to snaring
an audience on par with a regular episode of "NCIS."
But maybe that's the new TV: "Events" that aren't on par with those of
yesteryear. ABC's broadcast of the last episode of "Lost" snared
approximately 13.5 million viewers overall, according to preliminary
figures from Nielsen, with the Disney network seeking between $850,000 and
$950,000 for a 30-second spot in the broadcast.
The finale's audience numbers aren't on par with the 19.2 million people
who watched ABC's own "Dancing With the Stars" in the week ended May 16,
or the 17.2 million who tuned in that week to watch "NCIS" on CBS.
In some ways, the show was a success. The finale's audience trumped that
of the series during the regular broadcasting season. The episode of
"Lost" broadcast during the week ended May 16 reached approximately 10.3
million people, according to Nielsen. And ABC said about 9.8 million
people tuned in to watch a two-hour "recap" show between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
ET.
Yet by another fashion, the level of the program's audience serves up an
interesting TV truth: Advertisers seem willing to fork over high prices
for audiences that may not be the TV industry's biggest, but may well be
among its most intensely interested. Indeed, at 13.5 million the
viewership of the "Lost" finale is decidedly wan compared with the crowds
that tuned in to see the series finale of "Seinfeld" (76.3 million
viewers) or "Friends" (52.5 million viewers).
With TV viewers drawn to new means of consuming video entertainment --
think video-sharing sites, iTunes downloads or DVR playback -- it's no
surprise that programs which may have snared tens of millions of viewers
just a decade or so ago now bring in a little more than 10 million.
ABC clearly went out of its way to accommodate certain advertisers. During
the pre-show, Verizon sponsored promotional segments surfacing during ad
breaks that featured remarks about "Lost" from loyal fans -- and inserted
them into scenes of the show that portrayed characters reading. During the
finale itself, Target ran several ads that played off storylines from the
popular program. One commercial showed the famous "smoke monster" breaking
up an island camp, then a reminder that a smoke detector at Target only
costs $10.99.
Whether the "Lost" finale numbers constitute a TV event is a subject for
debate. The networks provide more fodder for the argument Monday evening
when Fox shows a two-hour series finale for "24" and NBC broadcasts a
two-hour season finale for "Chuck."
Source: AdAge, 05/24/2010 |