I am not a Nielsen scholar, and will never claim to be, however there has been a lot of controversy and discussion over the changes to the ratings system and how everything is playing out. Whether it is being counted as a PVR recording, or counting double for a show airing the same episode twice, there have been some big changes to how we view the ratings and NBC is doing there best to take advantage of it. Here is what the Hollywood Reporter has to say about Heroes and it’s double showing last week:

ABC and NBC tied for the win last week in the key adults 18-49 demographic. Added viewers from two plays of “Heroes” boosted NBC to a tie in the ratings, with a slight numerical lead for ABC.

Thanks to a rule change this season by Nielsen Media Research, NBC was able to add viewers from a Saturday replay of “Heroes” while throwing out a low-rated primetime hour. While the other networks cried foul, “Heroes” jumped to 17 million viewers and a 7.3 rating/17 share in the adults 18-49 for the Monday broadcast, a significant change from last week’s preliminary estimate of 14.1 million viewers and a 6.5/17.

That gave NBC a boost of about two-tenths of a rating point for the week, enough to equal ABC’s 3.9 rating. Without the little extra from “Heroes,” ABC would have won outright. It also was the first time in more than 10 years that ABC had won the first week of the TV season in viewership; CBS came in second.

It wasn’t clear whether “Heroes” would be the first and last show to be able to take advantage of the rule change, which Nielsen instituted at the beginning of the season to be able to give networks credit for ever-changing viewing patterns. Nielsen scheduled meetings this week to discuss the change, and some in the broadcast industry predicted that the rule probably wouldn’t stand the way it is currently written. Nielsen said Tuesday that it is looking at the situation.