Big loss for channel 4 there with Lost. I have Sky so no big deal, but its a disappointment for those who don't got Sky.

Just shows what Big Money can do. I don't really mind as I don't watch Lost but I'm sure it'll give Sky a boost.

Enforced cold turkey is Lost fans' only hope: surely it's discrimination to deny it to Sky viewers!

On a slightly more serious note, according to Digital Spy, Sky payed some £20 million for Lost. Channel 4 is, partly, funded by the public (the exact arrangement is complicated, and too complicated for me to remember at this hour), and its charter specifies "alternative programming". So they're probably in the position the BBC found themselves in with 24: shelling out that sort of money for screening rights is way outside their remit.

The big boys at Sky have no such constraints: and perhaps it's a good thing. I remain annoyed that Deadwood has yet to make it to terrestrial, but SkyOne is geared up to show glossy imports. If Channel 4 rely less on imported TV, perhaps they'll manage to produce more quality product of their own. Once can but hope ...

The scary thing is, it says in Friday's Independent that Channel 4 stretched a 38 minute show into 65 minutes, just to cram in as much advertising as possible. I didn't mind this so much, as it gave me time to brew a pot of tea during the odd break, but viewing figures for the last series were down from 4 mil to 2.8. Channel 4 apparently didn't feel it was worth hanging on to 'Lost'.

The third series starts on Sky next month. Whooo...