A Lost Cause

The journey has ended. Last night the long-awaited and long-planned last episode of ABC's "Lost," the tumultuous trip that began with television's most closely examined plane crash, reached its destination. Fates were decided, questions were answered and one of TV's most confusing series concluded.

However, I think I was just one out of the 13.5 million viewers who was not interested in seeing the "Lost" finale. But what I was interested in was hearing that ABC had packed roughly 107 spots - or more than 45 minutes of commercials and promotional time - into the 2-1/2 hour series finale. What?! That's absolutely mind-boggling!

Normally, a network typically runs anywhere from 18-21 spots - or roughly 9 to 10.5 minutes of commercial time - per hour to accommodate 44 minutes of content. Apparently, within the first hour of last night's finale, it appeared that ABC squeezed in roughly 37 ads, along with seven promos for ABC and local programming. And for an ad lover like me, I loved it. Everything from "True Blood" to Home Depot to Target were being promoted. But to the average consumer? That's advertising overload. Apparently, just when the finale would air a major plot point, a break would occur featuring anywhere from five to 11 ads.

“I expected there would be a significant amount of commercials in Lost,” concedes Bill Carroll of Katz TV Group, a media buying firm. ”It didn’t seem like any more than you are seeing in primetime these days. Does there appear to be more commercials on TV? Yeah. Obviously, ABC was able to put in more in the two-and-a-half-hour broadcast.”

Clearly, this showed that advertisers are willing to pay a premium in programs with a rabid fan base. And on that note, I cannot wait for the series finale of "24" tonight. Hopefully, it won't have nearly as many commercials as "Lost." If it does, I just might lose it.