'America's Got Talent' tops TV's Nielsen ratings

Heidi Klum attends the "America's Got Talent" season 15 red carpet on March 4, 2020, in Pasadena, Calif. The most popular television show was one of the most enduring summer series, NBC's "America's Got Talent." The show is in the midst of auditions for its 16th season, and the episode on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, was seen by just over 7 million people. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)

This image provided by NBC shows "America's Got Talent" judges Howie Mandel, from left, Heidi Klum, Sofia Vergara and Simon Cowell during an episode of the show that aired on Tuesday, June 22, 2021. (Trae Patton/NBC via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — Competition at athletic venues dominated the agenda for television viewers last week, but none was as popular as a competition on stage.

“America's Got Talent,” which is well-established as TV's favorite live show of the summer, reached seven million viewers last week with auditions for its 16th season on NBC, the Nielsen company said.

ABC found some viewers for its premiere of “When Nature Calls,” where Helen Mirren narrates comedic film clips from the wild, a reboot of a BBC series.

Otherwise, the NBA conference finals and Olympic trials drew many TV viewers.

NBC won the week with an average of 3.5 million viewers in prime time. CBS had 3 million, ABC had 2.7 million, Fox had 1.7 million, Univision had 1.2 million, Ion Television had 1.02 million and Telemundo had 990,000.

ESPN won a tight race for cable supremacy, averaging 2.19 million viewers in prime time. TNT had 2.18 million, Fox News Channel had 2.15 million, MSNBC had 1.32 million and HGTV had 1.13 million.

ABC's “World News Tonight” was the most popular evening news show, averaging 7.8 million viewers. NBC's “Nightly News” had 6.3 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 4.7 million.

For the week of June 21-27, the 20 most popular programs, their networks and viewerships:

1. “America's Got Talent,” NBC, 7.01 million.

2. “Olympic Trials: Women's Gymnastics" (Sunday), NBC, 5.75 million.

3. NBA Conference Finals: Milwaukee at Atlanta (Sunday), TNT, 5.6 million.

4. NBA Conference Finals: Phoenix at L.A. Clippers (Saturday), ESPN, 5.54 million.

5. NBA Conference Finals: Phoenix at L.A. Clippers (Thursday), ESPN, 5.33 million.

6. NBA Conference Finals: Atlanta at Milwaukee (Wednesday), TNT, 5.3 million.

7. NBA Conference Finals: L.A. Clippers at Phoenix (Tuesday), ESPN, 5.27 million.

8. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 5.04 million.

9. “Olympic Trials: Women's Gymnastics” (Friday), NBC, 4.59 million.

10. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 4.38 million.

11. “America's Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 4.35 million.

12. “NCIS,” CBS, 4.16 million.

13. “Olympic Trials: Track & Field” (Monday), NBC, 3.97 million.

14. “United States of Al,” CBS, 3.83 million.

15. NBA Conference Finals: Atlanta at Milwaukee (Friday), TNT, 3.7 million.

16. “When Nature Calls,” ABC, 3.698 million.

17. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 3.67 million.

18. “FBI,” CBS, 3.65 million.

19. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 3.58 million.

20. “The $100,000 Pyramid,” ABC, 3.56 million.