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It was the beginning of a new chapter, both literally and figuratively, but audiences don't seem ready to give "Heroes" a second chance just yet.

The season premiere of the one-time NBC juggernaut scored a 6.1 rating/9 share in its first hour, but dropped to a 5.6/9 in its second hour, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. The second hour marked a series low in overnight ratings which never before had dipped below the 6.0 rating mark.

Last year, "Heroes" averaged a 6.6/10, but the show already is well off its mark. A countdown show in the 8 p.m. hour finished at the same level as "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" on Fox, which isn't saying too much since that show also has struggled out of the gate.

Speaking of "Sarah Connor," that show finished with a 3.8/6, up about 8.6 percent from the week before, but still more than 7 percent off its season high, and 32 percent below last year's average. In fact, "Sarah Connor" is still 15.6 percent behind its lowest audience of the first season.

In terms of household ratings, "Heroes" finished ahead of only "Prison Break" and The CW programming in its first hour, and finished in last for the 10 p.m. hour, even being beat by "Boston Legal" on ABC. However, Zap2it says "Heroes" did have more viewers, if not more households.

Not even the coveted 18 to 49 age demographic is going to bail out either show this time around. NBC had a 4.1 overall, not terribly bad, but still only good enough for third behind a 4.5 from CBS and a 4.3 from ABC. While it was close at the top, it wasn't anywhere near that for everyone else. Fox finished last among the big four with a 2.4 while The CW finished with a 1.5.

For the night, NBC finished third with a 5.2/8, more than half the audience of ABC (which led mostly with reality programming), while Fox finished fourth with a 3.7/5.

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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