A rapping granny. A nose flutist. David Hasselhoff.

Whether NBC is showcasing talent on America's Got Talent is debatable. What isn't is that the network is reaping viewers.

Got Talent's two-hour premiere, featuring the aforementioned granny, flutist and Hasselhoff, was the week's second-most watched show, hooking 12.4 million, per the latest Nielsen Media Research rankings.

According to the Washington Post, which rounded up the numbers, the opener stacked up favorably with inaugural episodes of past summertime diversions such as ABC's Dancing with the Stars (13.5 million in 2005) and even Fox's American Idol (10 million-ish in 2002).

Idol is related to America's Got Talent by way of Simon Cowell, who is a judge on the former, and an executive producer on the latter.

For his latest star search, Cowell has enlisted Regis Philbin as host, and Hasselhoff, Brandy and fellow Brit Piers Morgan as judges.

The rapping granny and nose flutist are contestants, both vying for the show's $1 million grand prize. Actually, the rapping granny's a contestant; Jay Myl, the nose-blowing instrumentalist, is an ex-contestant--he was cut after last week's rendering of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips."

David Hasselhoff, after all, has standards.

Other notable ratings tidbits:

The first half of the Robert Duvall Western miniseries, Broken Trail, rode to the top of the cable ratings for AMC, rounding up 9.9 million for its Sunday night premiere. TNT's The Closer (6.1 million) continues to clobber most of the competition, cable or broadcast. Only CBS and Fox shows scored more viewers in the 9 p.m., Monday hour last week. Rescue Me on FX was watched by 2.8 million, and, per reports, denounced by just about as many, upset with the rapist turn of Denis Leary's lead firefighter. Laguna Beach spinoff The Hills (2.3 million) is living up to its neighborhood standards, emerging as MTV's second-most watched summer show. The basket is half-full: Game Six of the NBA Finals was the week's most watched show (15.7 million); overall, series viewership was up 4 percent from 2005, ABC said. The basket is half-empty: The 2006 NBA Finals was the third lowest-rated ever on record. CBS can spell CBS without CSI, but why would it want to? Repeats of CSI (third place, 11.9 million), CSI: Miami (fourth place, 11.3 million) and CSI: NY (seventh place, 9.383 million) helped the network dominate the Top 10. CBS' NCIS almost spells CSI. Accordingly, it's almost in the Top 10--13th place, 8.5 million. The Wednesday edition of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (10th place, 9.1 million) held up okay against the first hour of America's Got Talent; the CBS Big Brother special, America's Vote (42nd place, 5.9 million), did not hold up well against the first hour of So You Think You Can Dance. Fox's Hell's Kitchen (18th place, 7.5 million) and NBC's Last Comic Standing (21st place, 7.3 million) are holding steady; NBC's Windfall (48th place, 5.6 million) is down 38 percent from its premiere. The promise of "Interpretive Pizza Tossing" only goes so far. ABC's new competition show, Master of Champions (36th place, 6.1 million), was not exactly commanding in its Thursday premiere. FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia made the most of its Fox exposure, pulling in 4.1 million (71st place) on Sunday. CBS' Tuesday Night Book Club (70th place, 4.1 million) has ended after just two meetings. CNN's morning news show, American Morning, averaged 445,000 viewers last Friday. By comparison, the same morning, a TV Land repeat of The Munsters informed 446,000. And both shows bowed down to a TBS repeat of Mama's Family (505,000).

Thanks to its CSIs, CBS was the week's most watched network, averaging 7.4 million viewers. NBC (6.2 million) finished second, followed by Fox (6.1 million) and ABC (5.7 million).

Here's a look at the 10 most watched prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:

1. NBA Finals Game 6 (Miami at Dallas), ABC, 15.7 million viewers
2. America's Got Talent, NBC, 12.4 million viewers
3. CSI, CBS, 11.9 million viewers
4. CSI: Miami, CBS, 11.3 million viewers
5. Without a Trace, CBS, 10.2 million viewers
6. Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9.7 million viewers
7. CSI: NY, CBS, 9.383 million viewers
8. 60 Minutes, CBS, 9.382 million viewers
9. So You Think You Can Dance (Thursday), Fox, 9.3 million viewers
10. So You Think You Can Dance (Wednesday), Fox, 9.1 million viewers