The past two Sundays have been "Desperate Housewives"-free, but that's scarcely mattered to ABC.

A week after the Oscars became the most-watched entertainment broadcast of the 2004-05 season (although their ratings dipped from last year), ABC followed that up with the top-rated TV movie in several years.

"Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God" attracted an audience of 24.5 million Sunday (March 6), according to preliminary Nielsen figures (final numbers are due Tuesday). That makes it the highest-rated telefilm since CBS aired the documentary "9/11" three years ago. (ABC makes the further distinction that the last fictional TV movie to draw a bigger audience aired in November 1999.)

"Their Eyes Were Watching God," an adaptation of the Zora Neale Hurston novel that stars Oscar winner Halle Berry, also drew an 8.5 rating among adults 18-49, the favorite demographic among advertisers. That too is the best performance by a TV movie since "9/11."

Both the total audience and 18-49 numbers compare favorably with the average for ABC's usual lineup for the time period, "Desperate Housewives" and "Boston Legal."

"Oprah Winfrey Presents" in the title of a movie usually translates to solid ratings, but Sunday's broadcast delivered the biggest audience under that banner since "Before Women Had Wings" in November 1997. "Watching God's" 18-49 ratings were the highest for a Winfrey-backed production since "The Wedding" in February 1998.