Sweeps has brought its wave of season finales, with both Global and CTV seeing strong ratings with their U.S. series as they wrap for the year, and Survivor is still the finale to beat in Canada after the first three weeks of May.

Global’s two-hour season finale of Survivor Panama: Exile Island averaged a whopping 3.1 million – peaking at 3.6 million – easily winning the evening of Sunday, May 14, according to BBM. CTV offered Cold Case (one million viewers) and Desperate Housewives (1.8 million) against it. Exile Island bested even its own all-stars edition on Global in May 2004, which drew about three million. But demonstrating the cultural differences between Canada and the U.S., ABC’s Desperate Housewives beat Survivor with a 21 million average to Survivor’s 17 million in the States.

According to BBM, the Fox medical drama House drew its highest rating on Global to date with 2.3 million on Tuesday, May 9, beating drama Criminal Minds (1.3 million) on CTV at 9 p.m., despite Minds’ lead-in from American Idol and its three million viewers at 8 p.m. The season finale of House aired on May 23 as Playback went to press, facing a CSI rerun at 9 p.m. on CTV, following the final Idol performance show.

Global also recently saw the end of its long-running comedy Will and Grace, which drew 1.8 million on May 18. Ratings for the series finale for That ’70s Show – which ended its run on Global’s sister CH channels – weren’t available for press time.

Grey’s Anatomy wrapped with a two-hour part-two of its season finale on Monday, May 15, drawing a big 2.9 million viewers to CTV, while the Amazing Race finale on May 17 garnered 2.4 million, and the two-hour Desperate Housewives season ender managed 2.2 million on May 21. Finales of CTV’s other mega-hits, including CSI, Lost and American Idol, aired after Playback’s press time.

With Housewives and Grey’s in the off-season, CTV will roll out Canadian MOWs on Sundays leading into summer: Eight Days to Live on May 28, Spirit Bear: The Simon Jackson Story on June 4, and Doomstown, by Sudz Sutherland, airing June 11. Season four of the net’s popular Canadian Idol begins on May 29.

CTV is due to announce its ’06/07 fall lineup on June 5, with Global announcing its sked on June 7.

While CTV and Global duke it out with fiction and reality, CBC continues to do well with its NHL playoffs, thanks to the Edmonton Oilers. The first two games of the Oilers’ Western Conference series against the Anaheim Mighty Ducks drew 1.5 million viewers apiece, according to Nielsen. Both games provided victories for underdog Edmonton. CBC will also air games three through five of the Buffalo Sabres/Carolina Hurricanes Eastern final, with TSN carrying the balance.

CBC’s two second-round series – 10 games in all from May 5 to 17 – between the Oilers and San Jose Sharks, and the Ottawa Senators and Sabres, both averaged 1.4 million, drawing a 1.7 million best when the Oilers eliminated the Sharks on May 17.