The culmination of Heroes' first story arc, in which several of the superpowered protagonists had to "Save the Cheerleader, Save the World" last week, drew a series-high 16 million viewers and topped the Monday night ratings.

This week's follow-up, which took a look at the heroes' lives six months in the past, saw a slight drop - just 15.5 million tuned in.

Still, according to TV.com, it still came out on top of the ratings pile.

Heroes' audience has actually grown over the season, from a 14-plus million initial average to what it is today.

Rumour has it that series creator Tim Kring is also mulling a request by NBC to top up the 22-episode maiden season by a couple of episodes more.