ABC wins 16th Sunday in a row

ABC won its 16th consecutive Sunday night led by the two-hour season finale of "Desperate Housewives."

"Housewives" (16.8 million viewers, 6.1 preliminary adults 18-49 rating and a 15 share), which was up 9% from last week's one-hour edition to easily top the night. ABC's back-to-back finales of "Extreme Makeover" (7.7 million and 11.2 million, 2.6 and 3.8/9 and 11) were down slightly from the show's 8 p.m. outing last week, however.

CBS' presentation of the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards seemingly broke the awards show ratings curse Sunday night and ranked slightly higher than last year.

The awards (11.2 million, 2.9/8) came in second place to ABC's lineup. The uptick marks potentially good news for entertainment companies banking on increased national interest in country music (such as NBC, which is airing "Nashville Star" in the summer). But last year's awards show aired on Tuesday night against "American Idol" and "Dancing With the Stars," so the decreased competition Sunday night was likely a key factor.

Fox came in third with the on-par finales of "The Simpsons" (6.1 million, 2.9/9), "King of the Hill" (5.4 million, 2.6/7) and "American Dad" (5.6 million, 2.7/7). Fox filled out the rest of its schedule with repeats. Fourth-place NBC also mainly aired repeats. The CW had season finales of its comedy block (averaging 1.3 million, 0.5/2).