The performance of soapy one-hour “Desperate Housewives” made ABC the top-rated broadcast network Sunday in adults 18 to 49.

“Housewives” at 9 p.m. (ET) was the No. 1-rated program of the night, scoring an 8.5 preliminary national rating in adults 18 to 49, a number that includes live viewing plus same-day viewing via digital video recorders, according to Nielsen Media Research.

A 15-minute NFL football overrun on CBS was second for the night with a 6.7 rating, while ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” at 8 p.m. scored a 5.7, with NBC’s telecast of the NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears at 8 p.m. scoring a 5.6.

At 10 p.m. on ABC the new family drama “Brothers & Sisters” garnered a 5.5 rating, down 8 percent from its premiere last week. “Brothers” declined from a 6.1 its first half-hour to a 4.8 in its second half-hour. On CBS, a time-delayed “The Amazing Race 10” at 8:15 p.m. scored a 3.9, up 11 percent from its time period premiere last week. CBS’s “Cold Case” at 9:15 p.m. scored a 4.0, down slightly from its premiere last week, while “Without a Trace” scored a 4.2 at 10:15 p.m., down 13 percent from its premiere last week.

Fox’s “The Simpsons” at 8 p.m. and “Family Guy” at 9 p.m. tied for highest-rated half-hour for the night in adults 18 to 49, both with a 3.9.

The CW’s new Sunday night of comedy started evenly with “Everybody Hates Chris” and “All of Us” (both 0.9), before improving with “Girlfriends” (1.3). The debut of “Girlfriends” spinoff “The Game” scored a 1.2 in adults 18 to 49, tying the 9 p.m. repeat of reality series “America’s Next Top Model.”

“Chris” was down sharply from its Thursday debut last season on UPN (3.2), but was up 13 percent from the “Reba” repeat The WB ran in the time period last year. “All of Us” was down 50 percent (0.9) from its Monday season premiere on UPN last season, while also being down 18 percent from “Reba’s” repeat premiere last season in the time period on The WB.

“Girlfriends” was down 32 percent from its Monday premiere last year on UPN, and also down 32 percent from the premiere of The WB’s “Charmed” in the time period last season, while “The Game” was down 43 percent from “Charmed’s” time period performance last year.

ABC was the No. 1 broadcaster for the night with a 5.6 rating in adults 18 to 49, followed by NBC (4.9), CBS (4.3), Fox (3.0) and The CW (1.1). The CW’s adults 18 to 34 average for the night was also a 1.1.