• by Wayne Friedman , April 10, 2007

What's going on at ABC isn't as simple at a-b-c.

"Desperate Housewives," its bedrock Sunday-night show, took a big hit April 8, plummeting to a Nielsen preliminary series-low 6.0 rating among 18-49 viewers. It is down some 20% from its last original episode four weeks before, and off 23% from its season average of 7.8.

Much of the show's drop could be assigned to the highly promoted return of HBO's "The Sopranos"--although results won't be known until Tuesday.

But increasingly, the net's serialized dramas have viewers looking elsewhere--especially when the show is in repeats for long periods of time, or when original episodes air weeks apart from each other.

ABC has run into these problems with its other prime-time mainstay "Lost," which has endured as much as a 20% ratings hit for this season versus a year ago. It also hit a series low this season.

"The Sopranos," the long-awaited return of the critically acclaimed HBO show, has caused havoc among broadcast network executives on Sunday nights for years. On a more limited accessible pay-TV cable network, "The Sopranos" has been known to reach 13 million or more viewers per episode.

Also playing into "Housewives" woes was the usual Easter holiday slowdown, say TV analysts, which seems to yield a low viewing prime-time night.

Other networks took note--and did not expect big returns. CBS' best was "Without a Trace" at a 3.6/9 in 18-49 at 10 p.m. NBC grabbed a 2.8/7 for "Deal or No Deal" at 9 p.m., while Fox took in a 2.5/6 for a repeat of "Family Guy" at 9 p.m.

ABC could take solace in winning the night, with a 4.2/11. This compares to CBS' 2.9/8; NBC's 2.1/6; Fox's 1.9/5; Univision's 1.2/3; and CW's 0.6/2.