• by Wayne Friedman , May 22, 2007

The "Desperate Housewives" season finale perked up to a 7.0 rating among adult viewers 18-49 on Sunday night. But the ABC show still has some ground to make up.

"Housewives" is down some 31% versus last year's 9.8 finale number. The good news: "Housewives" is in good company, considering that many other top network shows have seen significant declines.

"Housewives" climbed nicely from its 6.0 rating a week before--slightly improved over its 6.9 rating seasonal average. And ABC grabbed a first-place finish with a Nielsen preliminary 4.6 rating/13 share.

Fox took a rare second place on Sunday with a 3.5/10. It earned a 4.5 for "The Simpsons," the 400th episode of the longtime show--its best ratings in five months. Another 4.5 rating for "Family Guy" also helped Fox.

Both NBC and CBS decided to change gears on Sunday, offering movies on the last Sunday of the May sweeps period. Neither had any appreciable results.

NBC, with "National Treasure," earned a 1.9/5 for the night. CBS was farther back at a 1.5/4, staking the night on "Million Dollar Baby." Univision was able to sneak in ahead of CBS for a fourth-place finish with a 1.6/4. CW was sixth at 0.6/2.