There won't be a new episode of "Heroes" for a long time, so audiences made sure they got their last dose of the show in the second season finale Monday.
"Heroes" earned a 6.6 rating/9 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research, enough for second place in the 9 p.m. hour behind "Two and a Half Men" and "Rules of Engagement" on CBS. It made easy work of season breakout hit "Samantha Who?" which scored a 5.0/7 without its "Dancing With the Stars" lead-in, as well as "Notes from the Underbelly," which had just 3.8/6.
Thanks to "Heroes," NBC was able to pick up a win in the key advertising demographic of adults 18 to 49, with a 3.6, according to Zap2it. That was well ahead of the 3.0 earned by CBS, which had actually won the night in overall viewership.
"Chuck" contributed to that as well, picking up a 5.2/8 to finish third behind a repeat of Fox powerhouse "House" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas" on ABC. But it was "Chuck" that was second in overall viewers for the hour, however, beating reruns on The CW and CBS.
Even with the reruns, CBS still outdistanced the competition overall, earning a 6.2/9 to finish ahead of NBC's 5.3/8. Without "Dancing," ABC fell to a 4.6/7, barely beating Fox in fourth with a 4.5/7.
Fast Nationals usually provide a snapshot of what Americans are watching by pulling numbers from the top urban markets that includes both live viewing and same-day timeshifted viewing. A rating point generally represents more than 1.1 million households while the share indicates the percentage of televisions turned on that was tuned to the specific program. These numbers typically shift when final ratings are issued.
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Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.