Next Season Will Be The Last For ABC's DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES

According to a person familiar with ABC's plans for DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, next season will be its last. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to the Associate Press because the network and producers hadn't authorized public comment.

ABC, which is scheduled to discuss its fall schedule at a news conference Sunday, declined comment.

While its cancellation was hardly a foregone conclusion, the future of the primetime soap, which stars Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, Eva Longoria and Vanessa Williams, has been in question in recent months.

DH has seen its ratings slide in recent years. Last season, the show averaged fewer than 12 million viewers, down from the nearly 24 million who tuned in for Season 1, according to The Nielsen Company.

It was previously speculated that ABC would wait until the fall premiere and see how the ratings held up before making a decision. But now ABC is expected to make a formal announcement at its Sunday session at the summer Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills.

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"It is an iconic show, we are so proud of it," ABC entertainment president Paul Lee said. "I just wanted to make sure that the show that put the network on the map had its victory lap and had a chance to build a great final arc."