Heroes Edges Out Fox’s 24 in Ratings

A lot of people were worried (myself included) when they heard that NBC was going to be pitting “Heroes” against new episodes of Fox’s hit show “24″ on Mondays. Looks like we did all that worrying for nothing, because ratings for the two respective networks for Monday night came in, and the verdict is: About a tie? Here’s the Hollywood Reporter’s breakdown of the night:

The peacock opened the night at No. 1 by a wide margin with an average of 17.6 million viewers and 5.2 rating/13 share in adults 18-49 for game show “Deal or No Deal,” according to preliminary estimates. Fox was competitive in the hour with the return of drama “Prison Break” (9.9 million, 4.2/10).

“Heroes” (14.8 million, 6.5/15) grew in the demo derby at 9 p.m. even in the face of “24″ (14.4 million, 5.4/12) with its first regular time period airing of the season following last week’s four-hour premiere spread over Sunday and Monday nights. CBS’ “Two and a Half Men” (16.1 million, 4.9/11) held on to No. 1 in viewers in the 9-9:30 p.m. half-hour. CBS’ “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (13 million, 4.2/9) fell to third behind “24″ and “Heroes” in the second half of the hour.

Now I can sleep better…