'Lost' finale broadcast live in eight countries, but Australians outraged

The 'Lost' finale won't find Australia until Wednesday, and Aussies are downright determined not to let Internet chatter spoil the last chapter.

“NOBODY discuss 'Lost' or I'll delete you as a friend – we don't get to see it till Wednesday night in Australia,” one person wrote on her Twitter wall.

The ABC drama, which has become one of the world’s most popular television shows over its six supernatural seasons, concluded with simultaneous broadcast in eight countries this weekend. Australians, however, have to wait three more days to see the final episode on television.

''Ridiculous,'' comedian Wil Anderson, reportedly a Lost die-hard, told Australian newspaper The Age. ''If I was going to watch it on Wednesday, I could not go on the Internet at all for two days. I will definitely have watched it by Wednesday.''

The New York Times spelled out the problem in its headline this morning: " ‘Lost’ Fans Suffer From Blabbermouths Online."

In 2009, Lost was named the most watched show on the Internet based on viewers of episodes on ABC's website. The Nielsen Company reported that 1.425 million unique viewers have watched at least one episode on ABC's website, according to TV Week.

Each episode, according to Wiredset, provoked an average of 27,000 Twitter posts (topping “American Idol,” which averages 25,000 posts an episode). In January, the White House backed down on the date of Obama's State of the Union address when ‘Lost’ fans tweeted their outrage over a conflict with the show.

Fans in the US, Canada, Britain, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Israel, and Turkey enjoyed the Lost finale unspoiled last night and this morning. It was shown at 5 am in Britain, simultaneously with West coast transmission in the US.Time magazine says this is the first time that a drama show has broadcast live internationally.

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