'Heroes' makes disappointing return

Heroes made a disappointing return to NBC last night, according to early viewing figures.

The two-hour season four premiere managed 6m between 8pm and 10pm, down around 4.09m from last year's season three opener. Previously, the first and second season premieres logged 14.1m each on September 25, 2006 and September 24, 2007.

Heroes was beaten by Fox's two-hour House premiere, which took a respectable 16.5m over the same time period, but failed to beat Dancing with the Stars, which opened to 17.5m for ABC.

Over on The CW, One Tree Hill had 2.5m during the 8pm hour, then 2.1m watched Gossip Girl at 9pm.

How I Met Your Mother interested 9.2m at 8pm for CBS, before new comedy Accidentally On Purpose logged 9m at 8.30pm. Two And A Half Men drew 13.6m at 9pm, then the audience dropped to 12.8m during the 9.30pm screening of The Big Bang Theory.

The new season premiere of CSI: Miami was the most-watched programme during the 10pm hour, drawing 13.7m for CBS. Elsewhere, the second season of ABC's Castle debuted with 9.4m and The Jay Leno Show grabbed 5.7m for NBC.