And the winner of the Sunday night battle of the cult shows goes to… Lost.
Lost continues to a rating powerhouse, with season five debuting in the UK on Sky1 last night with 946,000 viewers. BBC3’s Being Human – broadcast at the same time on BBC3 – managed to pull in an impressive 898,000 viewers, over double the number who saw its pilot last year. Sunday night’s other season premier, Supernatural, pulled in 509,000 viewers.
Lost’s victory is doubly impressive considering Sky isn’t available to as many viewers as BBC3. On the other hand Being Human is currently topping the BBC iPlayer chart which suggests many cult TV fans watched Lost first, then decided to catch up on Being Human.
Bottom line is, both Lost and Being Human pulled in solid viewing figures for multichannel TV, so they're both winners. And with the massive positive reaction Being Human is receiving, who knows – positions may be reversed in weeks to come.