Last night’s American Idol elimination performed its usual feat of sweeping Wednesday night. Meanwhile, ABC’s new Portia de Rossi comedy Better Off Ted debuted to a decent 5.6 million, but the net’s hour-longs took a dip: Life lost 20 percent of last week’s audience, while Lost’s total viewership for last night’s episode was down 14 percent from its previous new episode and down 20 percent from its season 5 premiere. The CW’s Top Model lost 20 percent from last week as well.
| Time | Show | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 p.m. | Lie to Me (Fox) The New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS) Scrubs (ABC) America’s Next Top Model (The CW) Chopping Block (NBC) |
10.0 7.4 5.7 3.6 3.5 |
| 8:30 | Gary Unmarried (CBS) Better Off Ted (ABC) |
7.6 5.6 |
| 9:00 | American Idol (Fox) Criminal Minds (CBS) Lost (ABC) Life (NBC) 90210 (The CW) |
23.1 13.5 9.1 4.2 0.9 (repeat) |
| 10:00 | CSI: NY (CBS) Law & Order (NBC) Life On Mars (ABC) |
12.7 7.1 5.3 |
Read more:
‘American Idol’ recap: No safe passage
‘Lost’ recap: It pays to have a plan
‘Better Off Ted’: Snap Judgment
Comments (1-22) of 22 Add your comment
You people skipping Lost for Idol are idiots! Lost is so good right now, and last night’s episode was so great. Why do you need to watch a 60-minute long recap show? On Wednesdays, I always watch Lost live and just check the results of Idol by logging onto ew.com. I live on the West Coast so by the time Lost starts, Idol has already announced the results.
i have to agree with alan….for some reason the nielsen ratings for lost are so low but its the most popular article on thursdays. Not only that, the message board for lost is HUGE!
Skipping LOST to watch a result show that you can record and watch later in 10 minutes is ridiculous.
Watched ANTM and AI last night. Never got into Lost.
just bring back Ugly Betty! f*ck!
ppl who skip lost for idol are smart
lost is getting ridiculous after season 2 it just starting becoming sh*t.
while idol is perfect so people are smart
Man, it’s depressing to see Lost’s ratings. I mean, cancelation is off the table but a worse time slot or even budget cuts could potentially happen. I hope not because this season is, for me at least, the best since the first. There hasn’t been a mediocre episode so far. Hopefully ABC is smart enough to not screw with the show with only 25 more episodes to go!
I wish there were less people like T.T.
Excuse me, FEWER people like T.T.
Lost has diffinitely gotten more intricate and better over the years. I watched it and turned for the last minute of Idol to see Alexis being kicked off.
As I wrote months ago, putting Lost against the Idol juggernaut is a bonehead decision. The weekly numbers continue to prove what I wrote is correct.
Lost is the best show on TV, hands down. I used to watch Idol, but not after season 5. Lost is like a great novel, that requires an investment over time, whereas Idol is like a supermarket tabloid that you skip through to look at the pictures.
this whole thing reminds me of Heroes, and how EW kept saying how it was the best show on tv, even as it continued to slide down in the ratings.
If Lost is now the best show on tv, than more people would be watching it, instead of less, week after week. It must be doing something wrong to keep on losing viewers every week.
lindsey, are you really trying to use ratings to determine what is a good show? Um, The Wire anyone?
And for exhibit B, I’ll give you every reality television show ever made.
Good ratings does not equal good tv. Can you honestly say that American Idol is the best show on television? Really?
It’s sad about Lost (which I completely agree is the best show on tv)
The people that stopped watching would be kicking themselves if they honestly knew how good it is now.
Let’s not compare Lost to Heroes. Heroes sucks the big one!
Let me clarify. I know that good ratings doesn’t necessarily mean good tv. But when a show’s ratings base,no matter how high or low to begin with, begins to decline and continues to decline, then something is wrong.
Can you give me an example of any show that actually INCREASES in viewers five years in? There are hardly any shows that even keep the same viewership. Once again, American Idol is an example.
Lindsey – If you’re on the outside looking in, the ratings decline for Lost might make you think that something is wrong. I can assure you that nothing is wrong with the show though…in fact, some might say that more things are RIGHT with the show this season!
Justin – You make it sound like ABC put Lost up against Idol, when it’s actually the exact opposite. ABC chose not to MOVE Lost after Fox made this decision, which you could argue as being a bad idea. Anyway, the fact that these ratings proved you right means nothing. There isn’t a soul on earth who thought the Lost viewer numbers would go UP after the Idol time slot switch, so quit bragging!
I can’t speak about the average ratings for LOST, but since last week was a rerun I don’t think they count as much. Lost has a dedicated following, I am defintely one of them. The show has gotten even better this season. Lost has one problem, similar to that of other shows like Heroes and 24, that is that the storyline is so intricate that it is impossible for new viewers to just jump in and start watching. If you haven’t been watching from the beginning you would in fact be “lost” to start now.
Dispite the ratings Lost is a great show, it may not be for everyone but for those that like it and those that trully know great writing, it is amazing and one of the few shows that make you not ashamed to admit you watch TV. High ratings don’t mean a great show. Remember “Arrested Development” it won a Golden Globe and an Emmy and couldn’t find an audience and everyone agreed that it was great. Sh*t happens.
Lost fans who say that ratings doesn’t matter because Lost will end next year no matter what are clearly delusional! Budget cuts! does that tell you anything? In the Last episode in the beginning we saw some of the worst and most fake special effects and CGI in recent TV history – at least in a TV show with the production values that Lost had used us – If the ratings will continue to drop then next year we should expect even worst sequences which is sad because Lost is coming to its end and should finnish its ride with a bang and scenes like this don’t belong in a show like Lost!
Actually, the only “idiots” are people arguing over what TV show is “best.” People watch what they like. Some people treat TV shows like a religion. It’s pathetic.