"Housewives," "Survivor" hit new ratings lows

By Kimberly Nordyke

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC and CBS split primetime Sunday, though "Desperate Housewives" posted a first-run low and "Survivor: Fiji" marked the series' lowest-rated finale ever.

The finale of CBS' "Survivor: Fiji" -- the series' 14th installment -- averaged 13.6 million total viewers and a 4.5 rating/13 share in the adults 18-49 demo from 8-10 p.m., according to preliminary estimates released Monday by Nielsen Media Research. That rating was off 27% from the May 2006 finale of "Survivor: Panama."

"Survivor" won the 8-9 p.m. hour against such shows as ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" (10.2 million, 3.7/11) but was beaten in the 9 p.m. hour by ABC's "Desperate Housewives" (15.8 million, 6.0/15). "Housewives," in its third season, was the top show of the night despite posting a series-low for an original episode (excluding clip shows). Its previous low was 15.9 million, 6.1/15 on April 8.

At 10 p.m., the hourlong "Survivor" reunion special (12.1 million, 4.3/11) won its first half-hour -- during which Santa Monica-based advertising executive Earl Cole was revealed the winner of the $1 million prize -- but was surpassed by ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" (12 million, 4.3/12) in the second half-hour.

On the CW, "7th Heaven" (3.4 million, 1.1/4) bowed out at 8 p.m., on par with its previous season average, though off significantly from the 10th-season finale on the WB Network a year ago (originally intended to be the series finale before the CW gave it a last-minute reprieve). That episode (7.2 million, 2.8/6) featured appearances by some former cast members, including Jessica Biel and Barry Watson, whereas Sunday night's episode did not.

At Fox, an original episode of "The Simpsons" averaged 6.5 million viewers and a 3.1/10 at 8 p.m., followed by a "Simpsons" repeat (6.7 million, 3.2/9) and a first-run episode of "Family Guy" (7.2 million, 3.5/9) at 9 p.m.

NBC aired an encore of theatrical "Shrek" (6.3 million, 2.1/6) from 8-10 p.m. and a repeat of "Thank God You're Here" (3.8 million, 1.5/4) in the 10 p.m. hour.

ABC (11.2 million, 4.0/12) won the night in adults 18-49, while CBS (12.2 million, 3.7/11) won in viewership, ahead of Fox (5.5 million, 2.6/8), NBC (5.2 million, 1.7/5) and the CW (2.2 million, 0.7/2).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter