"Housewives" boosts ABC's fortunes


Updated: 2007-04-17 19:43

NEW YORK - A slightly improved "Desperate Housewives" boosted ABC's fortunes in the coveted adults 18-49 demographic, but CBS edged ABC in viewership in Sunday.

Meanwhile, Fox's two-hour premiere of "Drive" averaged just 6 million viewers and a 2.6 rating/6 share among adults 18-49, according to preliminary data released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. It stayed steady in adults 18-49, but ominously lost a half million viewers throughout its duration and came in fourth for the time period by that measure.

"Housewives" (16.1 million, 6.2/14) was the night's top show in viewership and the demo. That was up slightly compared with last week's Easter Sunday record low for the ABC comedy-drama (15.9 million, 6/1/15), which had been the first original episode in nearly a month. CBS was in second place at 9 p.m. with "Cold Case' (12.3 million, 3.0/7).

ABC and CBS split the 10 p.m. hour, with "Brothers & Sisters" (11.5 million, 4.5/12) winning in adults 18-49 while CBS and "Without a Trace" (14.3 million, 3.5/9) was tops in viewership. NBC's "The Apprentice " (6.4 million, 2.5/6) was in third place in both measures.

A repeat "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (10.2 million, 3.7/10) still was 8 p.m.'s top show against "Drive" as well as "The Amazing Race" (9 million, 2.9/8) and NBC's "Dateline NBC" (7.8 million, 1.9/5). CBS' "60 Minutes" (12 million, 2.2/7) won in viewers at 7 p.m.; ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" (8.6 million, 2.6/8) won in the demo.

Final ratings data will be released Tuesday with Nielsen Media Research's weekly data.

Nightly averages: CBS (11.9 million, 2.9/8); ABC (11.6 million, 4.3/11); NBC (6.9 million, 2.0/5); Fox (5.6 million, 2.4/6); and the CW (1.9 million, 0.8/2).



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