Lost for words

Does anyone actually pay attention to the Nielsen TV ratings anymore? I didn't think so until the Thursday after Valentine's Day, when the headline on every entertainment-related Web site I frequent said something to the effect of "'Lost' suffers its lowest ratings ever as ABC marketing department devises new plan." It seems that the Desmond-centric episode "Flashes Before Your Eyes" pulled in, according to Nielsen, only 12.8 million viewers on a night when many of "Lost"'s diehard fans were probably forced into watching "The Notebook" with their girlfriend for the ninth time.\nI say only 12.8 million because not only would most shows still kill for those numbers, but because I bet those same "Lost" fans were TiVo'ing, recording or planning to download Desmond Hume's adventures in time travel while sitting through those maudlin makeout scenes. Nielsen ratings are simply not a valid way of judging the actual viewership of television programs nowadays. With iTunes, TiVo, DVR and online streaming being the order of the day, it can't be long before the folks at Nielsen Media Research realize that shows need not live and die by the box, can it?\nSpeaking of Mr. Nielsen, who are these people who actually have one of those ratings boxes? I certainly don't know anyone who does, but seeing as how the top-rated shows on television are continually "American Idol," "Grey's Anatomy," "CSI," and "Deal or No Deal," it must be the elderly, housewives and teenage girls. "Lost" continually tops the coveted male 18-49 demographic of viewership, so apparently someone in that category has a Nielsen box, but something tells me it's the minority.\nWhile "Lost" is still one of the 20 highest-rated shows on television, it has certainly seen a massive drop in Nielsen viewership since Season 1. While most critics would have you believe this is because of unanswered questions and ever-murkier mythology, my theory is that people are just watching it on their own time as opposed to ABC's. Continually the most downloaded show on iTunes from week to week, "Lost" does not lend itself to the casual viewer, something that cannot be said about any of the other top-rated shows on television, save "Heroes," "Grey's" and "24."\nWeb sites like spoilerslost.blogspot.com and the amazingly comprehensive lostpedia.com are evidence that "Lost" fans are defying network convention and spending most of their time obsessing over the show in ways other than being glued to the couch from 10 to 11 p.m. each Wednesday. Is there anyone checking the set-dressing on "Desperate Housewives" or researching obscure cultural references on "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" each week for clues to their favorite show's deeper meaning? Somehow I doubt it.\nThe primary reason that "Lost" is confounding ABC's network heads is the unconventional way it uses the Internet in tandem with its airtime to further its own mythology. If the Web were around in the days of "Twin Peaks" and the early years of "The X-files," we would've seen the same phenomenon, but alas, "Lost" is the first of its kind. Meanwhile, over at ABC, the marketing department's brilliant new plan is to promise, during the preview for the following week's episode, that tons of mysteries will be explained, when in actuality said mysteries will only be unraveled at the writers' and producers' own pace. This does nothing but leave a bad taste in the mouths of the dwindling number of casual fans "Lost" has left and needs to be stopped.\nOne need only take a quick glance at the nearest "Lost"-related message board to see what a unfailingly divisive, dearly beloved and fiercely hated program it has become. Some examples of actual posts from aintitcool.com on the Claire-centric episode, "Par Avion:"\n--"Death by electro-magnetic fence thingy. If you didn't enjoy this episode then Lost clearly isn't for you. Enjoy Criminal Minds!" - DynamixRo\n--"They spent the entire episode going over the fence. wtf? Locke continues to act like a complete idiot. He seems like a confused old man, no longer the tough badass boar hunter. Blah blah blah. Lost continues to disappoint week after week." - knowthyself\n--"The fertility drugs people take to get pregnant never result in multiple pregnancies, let alone twins, triplets or more. Clones, what a stupid idea. Twins aren't clones." - Steve_Dooku\nClones?! Anyway, "Lost" fans will be "Lost" fans, and network executives will be network executives. I only hope we can all get along for the next 2 1/2 seasons as the mysteries behind the Dharma Initiative, the Hanso Foundation and humankind's ability to shift its own destiny are answered in due time. I don't think that will be a problem so long as those executives get it through their ever-whitening heads that Nielsen ratings don't mean jack when it comes to a show like "Lost," a show whose stable of hardcore fans experience, discuss and dissect it for far longer than one pre-designated hour per week.