ABC's 'Lost' is easy to find, and not just on a TV screen

It's all about the bottom line of course, and the idea is to drive the audience into the "Lost" maze, whether it's reflected in Nielsen ratings, merchandise purchases, online hits or $1.99 Apple downloads. Networks and studios that want to thrive in this new age are going to have to become as "platform-agnostic" as the Generation X and Y viewers they are targeting, said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president of business development for ABC Entertainment.

"We are reaching viewers primarily via the television screen but as we look into the crystal ball, who knows how many more products might be out there that will allow our consumers to have a great viewing experience," Gersh said.

If Lindelof and Cuse had their druthers, everyone would watch "Lost" on 72-inch high-definition screens. But they aren't complaining about fans downloading the show on computers or video iPods. As producers, their biggest worry is losing viewers who skip one episode and don't return because they become intimidated by the revealing flashback they missed or the complex plot's twists and turns.

"At this point, if you try to talk about an episode from the first season, there are so many tie-ins to things that have happened more recently that you just have to be in the know," said Jess Blau, a graduate student who moved to Paris from Milwaukee in May. He has been downloading the second season of the show on his computer via iTunes since ABC became the first network to strike a deal with Apple in October. This month, NBC Universal made several of its prime-time programs available for download on iTunes as well. So far, "Lost" is the No. 1 downloaded show, with about 400,000 orders.

"I contribute to the forums occasionally and read them regularly but I don't really post very often because there are people out there who are investigating 'Lost' like it's their job," Blau noted. "By the time I notice Walt's [a child character on the show] face on the milk carton, or whatever little Easter egg popped up in the episode, there is already a thread of 60 pages posted about it."

Many of the viewers who catch the show on the small screen later turn to downloaded versions on their computers where screen-grabs allow them to notice details. "I make sure to watch every episode on TV because the screen is bigger and the stereo is better and it's a more fun experience," said 15-year-old Ian Shirley of Vista, Calif. "But if I'm talking to people about episodes on the forums and we decide to go back and look at one or want to screen-capture something, I will go and watch them from the computer."