NEW YORK - "Desperate Housewives" hit a new ratings low for the second time in three weeks Sunday.

ABC's suburban soap was still the night's top show with 15.6 million viewers and a 6.0 rating/14 share among adults 18-49, according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research.

The score was down from the previous record set Easter Sunday on April 8, though only by one-tenth of a rating point in adults 18-49 and a few hundred thousand in viewership. The show's performance may go up slightly when final ratings are released Tuesday.

"Housewives" was well ahead of NBC's second place "Deal or No Deal" (9 million, 2.6/6), the first hour of CBS' Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "Crossroads" and Fox repeats of "Family Guy" (6.5 million, 3.2/8 for a full hour).

The live finale of "The Apprentice" (7.9 million, 3.2/8) won 10 p.m. in the demo, though it couldn't compete in viewership with "Crossroads" (10.6 million, 2.3/6 between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.). ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" (7 million, 2.6/7) was a repeat.

"Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (11.4 million, 3.9/11) carried the 8 p.m. hour for ABC in both measures. It came out ahead of a new episode of "The Simpsons" (6.4 million, 3.0/9), which rated slightly lower than an 8:30 p.m. repeat of "The Simpsons" (6.5 million, 3.1/8). "The Amazing Race" (8.7 million, 2.7/8) wasn't far behind, while "Dateline: NBC" (6.7 million, 1.7/5) and "7th Heaven" (2.7 million, 0.9/3) were further behind in both measures.

ABC and CBS split the 7 p.m. hour with "America's Funniest Home Videos" (8.3 million, 2.5/9) winning in the demo and "60 Minutes" (9.6 million, 1.8/6) victorious in viewership.

Nightly averages: ABC (10.6 million, 3.8/10); CBS (9.9 million, 2.3/6); NBC (7 million, 2.2/6); Fox (5.3 million, 2.5/7); and the CW (1.9 million, 0.7/2).