‘America’s Got Talent’ Is Viewers’ Summertime Pick

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) — “America’s Got Talent” is proving to be TV audiences’ summertime show of choice, with its dominant performance boosting NBC to its fourth consecutive weekly ratings win.

The talent contest has ranked as the most-watched program for the past five weeks, with last week’s show topping the No. 2 series, CBS’s “60 Minutes,” by 65 percent.

With its dizzying array of competitors, including performers, magicians and acrobats, “America’s Got Talent” can claim something for nearly everyone. Guest judges scheduled this season include Ken Jeong, Olivia Munn and Martina McBride.

Reality and competition series made up six of the top 10 shows, according to Nielsen Co. figures released Tuesday. “The Bachelorette,” ”World of Dance” and “Big Brother” were among the most-watched shows last week.

NBC was the week’s winning network in U.S. primetime viewing, averaging 4.3 million viewers. CBS had 3.8 million, ABC had 3.1 million, Fox had 2.1 million, Ion Television had 1.4 million, Telemundo and Univision each had 1.2 million, and the CW had 860,000.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” led the evening newscasts with an average of 7.9 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.3 million, and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.6 million.

Fox News Channel was the week’s most popular cable network, averaging 2.3 million viewers. MSNBC had 1.7 million, USA had 1.3 million, Hallmark had 1.31 million and HGTV had 1.3 million.

The Top 20

Primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for July 23-29. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.

1. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.7 million.

2.”60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.1 million.

3. “The Bachelorette,” ABC, 5.9 million.

4. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 5.7 million.

5. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 5.65 million.

6. “World of Dance,” NBC, 5.64 million.

7.”Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 5.5 million.

8. “Big Brother” (Sunday), CBS, 5.4 million.

9. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.3 million.

10. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 5.27 million.

11. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 5.1 million.

12. “World of Dance,” NBC, 4.9 million.

13. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.8 million.

14. “Dateline NBC” (Monday), NBC. 4.6 million.

15. “$100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 4.5 million.

16. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 4.43 million.

17. “America’s Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.3 million.

18. “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 4.1 million.

19. “America’s Got Talent” (Sunday), NBC, 3.9 million.

20. “Mom,” CBS, 3.87 million.