NBC's Summer Reality Staples 'America's Got Talent' and "American Ninja Warrior" Slotted For Returns

Investors have seen a stellar turnout by NBC

the past two years as the Peacock network has wrestled the 18-49 crown away from its rivals. Yet what's more impressive is that during the off-peak summer season, NBC hasn't lost its advantage. A large part of that success is the network's ability to keep fresh programming on year round including in the reality genre. Variety contest "America's Got Talent" has consistently been a top performer and over the last few years it has been joined by athletic competition "American Ninja Warrior." On Tuesday NBC announced return dates for both series. Beginning Tuesday May 31st, "Talent" will return for its 11th season and will look to continue its decade long summer dominance with the addition of new judge Simon Cowell. Cowell, who is the show's executive producer, will be replacing outgoing judge Howard Stern whose presence helped rejuvenate the series. The following night "American Ninja Warrior" returns with a challenging obstacle course that tests the mental and physical abilities of some of today's top athletes. This year the series will make stops in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Indianapolis, Oklahoma City and Philadelphia en route to its traditional Las Vegas finale. Both "Talent" and "Warrior" are coming off some of their strongest rated episodes and should put NBC right back in the driver's seat in the summer season.