And By "Successor," I Mean "Wildly More Successful Television Program."

From Bill Carter's check-in with HBO in today's New York Times (surprise! HBO's doing great!):

In the meantime, [HBO chairman Chris] Albrecht defends HBO, saying it still sets much of the agenda for quality television. "You have seen the supposed successor to 'Sex and the City' be on a broadcast network," he said, "if indeed 'Desperate Housewives' is the successor, which I don't believe creatively it is - maybe from an audience point of view it is."

Number of people who watched the series finale of "Sex and the City": 10.6 million

Number who watched "Desperate Housewives" last week: 25.9 million