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ABC Wins Sunday Ratings Contest

Nov 27, 2006  •  Post A Comment

Despite season-to-date erosion among its Sunday night lineup, ABC pulled out another victory last night with help from “Desperate Housewives.”

ABC fought off NFL football and a Hallmark movie to take the lead, with “Housewives” pulling a 8.5 rating in the 9 p.m. slot, according to Nielsen Media Research’s preliminary ratings. “Housewives” was followed by a special two-part “Boston Legal” (4.6), which will conclude in its usual Tuesday night slot.

Fox took second place with a boost from a half hour of NFL overrun (8.0). The network also had a strong night with its regular comedy lineup. Shows such as “Simpsons” (5.0) at 8 p.m. and “Family Guy” (4.8) at 9 p.m. hit two-month highs.

NBC was third with pre-game “Football Night in America” (3.0) and “Sunday Night Football” (5.2), whose Philadelphia vs. Indianapolis game was down 9 percent from last week.

Fourth place CBS had a weak night, with a slightly below average “60 Minutes” (2.4) followed by “The Amazing Race” (3.3), which delivered its lowest rating of the season, then a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “Candles on Bay Street” (2.8).