NBC Reality Offerings 'America's Got Talent' And 'American Ninja Warrior' Start Strong

NBC CMCSA has become a summer powerhouse for reality programming and the early numbers for its staple series is enough to excite investors.

First off was "America's Got Talent" which held tight in the all-important 18-49 demo from its previous launch last summer. In terms of total viewers it lorded over the competition with more than 11 million people tuning into welcome Simon Cowell to the judging panel.

The following night "American Ninja Warrior" saw its numbers also stay steady in the demo but grow 7% in viewers to 6.27 million. As a result "Warrior" had its most watched season debut in series history. The feel-good competition series has become a big brand for NBC with "Team Ninja Warrior" scoring for sister network Esquire and more spin-offs on the way.

NBC also saw solid numbers from new variety show "Maya & Marty" which had the benefit of a "Talent" lead-in. The series was sampled by over 6 million viewers and pulled a 1.5 in the 18-49 demo.

The network still has "Running Wild With Bear Grylls" set for a July return and the off-beat "Better Late Than Never" comedy with Henry Winkler, George Forman, Terry Bradshaw and William Shatner on deck for August.

"Last Comic Standing" is taking a hiatus largely due to the 2016 Summer Olympics taking up most of NBC's August schedule.