As for putting Heroes up against 24 (and for putting Chuck up against The Big Bang Theory), are television programmers trying to kill off their networks by placing shows that appeal to the same demographic up against each other? When they do that, they split the audience and often kill one or both shows in the process. Stupid.
They have done this for years. I never could understand why they do this. It has killed many good shows in the process over the years. Hopefully one day they will smarten up. But doubtful since it usually involves rival networks. Luckily I only like 24 out of the four you mentioned, but I understand it would be disappointing if you are fans of the other three shows.
There are executives within entertainment companies who don't always like programs even when they are getting good ratings or have a built in audience.
It happened when some SeeBS executive decided to get the "hillbilly" progamming off the network around 1970.
It happened when Terry Gilliam's Brazil was greenlighted but the studio execs didn't want to back it.
Executives will sabotage a project out of spite, disregard, and personal vendetta. They don't care that the shareholders will suffer as a result. And they move with their board from company to company.
If someone dislikes genre programming and geeks and likes nighttime soap operas about cops, lawyers, doctors, or rich housewives, all the questioning in the world won't get them to reveal why they are killing a successful program.
I’ve never watched 24 for a variety of reasons (even though I’d probably like it) but it could hurt 24, too. While recording one or both and watching them later is always an option, that doesn’t really count in the ratings or with the advertizers. So all it would take to hurt 24 is some fans who decide to watch, say, Chuck and then follow in to Heroes without switching channels and DVR 24 to hurt 24’s ratings. The question becomes, when a person has a choice of watching one live and one later, do they watch Heroes or 24 later?