TV Ratings: Sunday (May 11, 2008)

The ratings are back and here is now a look at Mother's Day figures, including the season finales of "Survivor" and "Brothers & Sisters."

Although "Desperate Housewives" have averaged well over 18 million viewers this season, the most recent post-strike episodes have fallen to 15-16 million and last night was no exception. The show however suffered a similar setback in the spring 2007. Perhaps more people use their DVRs when the weather improves and the days get longer.

The season finale of its lead-out "Brothers & Sisters" posted ratings on a par with its season average levels, which (given losses in the "Desperate" timeslot) has improved its retention rate now exceeding 70%. I also can't imagine too many viewers skipping the show because of the same-sex wedding storyline, as its audience is mostly liberal and used to gay content.

"Survivor" ended its Micronesia cycle at levels very similar to last year's Fiji ender which pulled in 13.63 million viewers on May 13, 2007.

An all-new episode of FOX's "Simpsons" scored only a little over 6 million viewers, but those numbers are only a little lower than at the same time last year.

NBC's lackluster line-up was dragged even further down with four repeats of "The Office" scoring fewer than 3 million viewers.

ABC:
7:00pm America's Funniest Home Videos (7.78 million)
8:00pm Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (11.93 million)
9:00pm Desperate Housewives (15.24 million)
10:02pm Brothers & Sisters [season 2 finale] (11.02 million)

CBS:
7:00pm 60 Minutes (10.36 million)
8:00pm Survivor: Micronesia [season 16 finale] (12.92 million)
10:00pm Survivor: Micronesia [special] (10.84 million)

NBC:
7:00pm America's Favorite Mom [special] (5.13 million)
8:00pm The Office (R) (2.59 million)
10:00pm Law & Order: SVU (R) (5.58 million)

Fox:
7:00pm King of the Hill (R) (2.38 million)
7:30pm Simpsons (R) (3.71 million)
8:00pm Simpsons (6.02 million)
8:30pm King of the Hill (4.99 million)
9:00pm Family Guy (R) (5.81 million)
9:30pm American Dad (5.64 million)

The CW:
7:00pm America's Next Top Model (R) (985,000)
8:00pm Everybody Hates Chris (1.24 million)
8:30pm Aliens in America (1.12 million)
9:00pm The Game (1.55 million)
9:30pm Girlfriends (R) (1.25 million)

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