Ratings: Heroes Slips Again

By Toni Fitzgerald
Feb 24, 2009


With CBS again in reruns and NBC’s relaunched Monday lineup continuing to slide, Fox captured an easy victory last night, led by the evening’s top-rated show, “House.”

Fox averaged a 4.6 adults 18-49 rating and 12 share for the night, according to Nielsen overnights, a full point ahead of second-place ABC at 3.6/9.

“House” was up 6 percent from last week, when it faced an original “The Bachelor” at 8 p.m., from a 5.1 to a 5.4. Last night ABC aired a special, “The Bachelor: The Women Tell All,” instead of the usual reality show, which has been surging in recent weeks.

“House” lead-out “24” was also up slightly from last week, from a 3.6 to a 3.7, though it finished 0.3 behind “Women” in the 9 p.m. timeslot.

NBC, meanwhile, saw its lineup slip again after a decent premiere several weeks ago. The network was down 0.2 from last week, tying for third place on the night with CBS at 2.7/7, as “Heroes” hit a likely series-low 3.3 rating, down 8 percent from last week’s 3.6.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Twenty-eight percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

Rounding out the top six for the night, Univision finished fifth at 1.7/4 and the rerun-laden CW sixth at 0.5/1.

At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 5.4 for “House,” followed by ABC with a 3.4 for “Women.” CBS was third with a 2.7 for repeats of “The Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother,” NBC fourth with a 2.2 for “Chuck,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for “Cuidado con el Angel” and CW sixth with a 0.4 for a repeat of “Gossip Girl.”

ABC took the lead at 9 p.m. with a 4.0 for the second half of its “Bachelor” special, while Fox slipped to second with a 3.7 for “24.” NBC was third with a 3.3 for “Heroes,” CBS fourth with a 3.1 for repeats of “Two and a Half Men” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine,” Univision fifth with a 1.8 for the series premiere of “Mañana Es Para Siempre” and CW sixth with a 0.5 for a “One Tree Hill” rerun.

At 10 p.m. ABC was first with a 3.2 for “True Beauty,” with NBC second with a 2.7 for “Medium.” CBS was third with a 2.3 for a repeat of “CSI: Miami” and Univision fourth with a 1.4 for “Cristina.”

Fox was also first for the night among households with a 7.9 average overnight rating and a 12 share. ABC was second at 6.6/10, CBS third at 6.1/10, NBC fourth at 4.6/7, Univision fifth at 2.2/3 and CW sixth at 0.9/1.