Something happened on the way to the 2008-09 television season: Viewers decided they had better things to do.

Television network viewership is down overall, and some higher-profile genre shows like "Heroes" on NBC and "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles" on Fox, are really starting to feel the pinch.

"Heroes" slid to a 5.7 rating/8 share, according to Fast National ratings from Nielsen Media Research. That was down more than 3 percent from the 5.9 average the show received in its two-hour premiere, and is pushing the bottom of its ratings lower and lower each week.

While it was nearly 43 percent more than its lead-in of "Chuck," "Heroes" finished behind comedies on CBS as well as reality television on ABC.

While ratings for "Heroes" might be slipping, it's not nearly as bad as what's happening over on Fox with "Sarah Connor." That show also posted its worst rating to date with an estimated 3.4/5, according to Zap2it, finishing well behind "Chuck" as well as "Dancing With the Stars" and comedies on CBS. The rating was only 42 percent better than "Gossip Girl" on The CW, a network that has nowhere near the market penetration Fox has.

"Heroes" did finish with NBC's best rating of the night, leading it to a third place win with a 4.7/8. It also finished third in the key adult 18 to 49 demographic with a 3.2, behind both CBS and ABC.

Fox, however, did not have one of its best nights. Ratings for "Prison Break" were about the same with "Sarah Connor, and the network finished with a 3.4/5, ahead of The CW for the fourth slot. The race between The CW and Fox tightened quite a bit when it came to adults 18 to 49. There Fox earned a 2.0, just 5 percent more than The CW.

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.

Feeling a little horrific? Get your daily dose of horror news straight from The Doll, Rabid Doll that is at www.RabidDoll.com.

Hear Michael Hinman on SyFy Radio every Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT at www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SyFyRadio.

Follow Airlock Alpha on Twitter! Add SyFyMichael to your follow list today!

Become a part of the Airlock Alpha Facebook community! Just do a search on "SyFy" and join us!