Recently the business of television was on full display as the networks spent tons of money trying to convince advertisers, investors, and audiences that their new slate of programming is the most profitable. Now with the “upfront” season over, all attention turns to the summer where the networks will look to keep their momentum going into the all-important fall season. Here’s a look at how each of the broadcast (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW), cable and pay cable networks are approaching TV’s summer vacation.

Unlike the other major networks NBC (a subsidiary of Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA)) has always had a big summer presence. While’s its roster has grown over the years, the Peacock network has always understood the value of year-round programming, even if it hasn’t always had the strongest lineup during that time.

Reality Remix
Reality TV has been a summer traditional dating back to 2000 when Survivor first marooned castaways on a deserted island. Eventually Dancing With The Stars and American Idol joined the fray as well and all eventually segued to the traditional broadcast season.

However for a show like America’s Got Talent, the program has remained a summer staple over its entire run and over the last two years has experienced strong ratings growth for NBC. Its most recent panel including the “king of all media” Howard Stern, Howie Mandel, Mel B and Heidi Klum resonated with viewers and because of that the show will again be the centerpiece of NBC’s reality lineup this summer.

NBC will also bring back two old favorites, one for its third season on the network and the other for its fifth iteration. For America Ninja Warrior, the series started on NBC’s cable network (then known as G4) and eventually shifted over to broadcast and has proven to be a reliable summer series. With a fun premise and an obstacle course that rivals anything from American Gladiators’ heyday; it’s not hard to see why audiences tune in to see if any American can conquer the famed international athletic competition.

With Last Comic Standing, the network is once again putting a fresh coat of paint on a proven concept. Essentially American Idol for comedians, the series has been on for 7 seasons (over 11 years), but has gone through multiple hosts and format changes. Rising star JB Smoove will headline this newest version while Roseanne Barr, Keenen Ivory Wayans, and Russell Peters will sit behind the judges’ desk.

Bringing back Standing actually makes the most financial sense for NBC as executives can use the program to audition new talent. Ironically in the past NBC personally hasn’t been able to capitalize on the show’s alumni, but other networks have had a field day and in turn comedians like Amy Schumer, Lavell Crawford, Doug Benson, Todd Glass and Gabriel Iglesias saw their careers skyrocket. The goal this time being that with a new regime of executives in charge at NBC one of this season’s new crop could help the network launch the next big comedy.

Remember, overall reality TV is also cheaper to produce and a reliable time-filler that can also serve as a vehicle for rising or established talent the network wants to have in its fold…that is evident by a series like Food Fighters, which is a reality/game show hybrid hosted by Man Vs. Food’s host Adam Richman. NBC will look to capitalize on Richman’s fanbase from his Travel Channel days and figures the summer is the best time to do that as audiences will be more in the mood for this type of culinary competition.

Super charged standard fare
NBC will also use the summer to showcase a few of the series it picked up in 2013 but held onto for what it felt was the right time. Next to ABC, NBC usually takes the most pilots to series as executives know they can plug them in at some point during the season. While ABC usually makes a concerted effort to air all of its shows before the summer, NBC has traditionally integrated some of its remaining projects directly into its summer plans.

This year that is especially the case as the network has at least three holdovers including hospital drama The Night Shift, nerd comedy Undateable and event series Crossbones. In terms of profitability, Crossbones is the one NBC is banking on.

Starring John Malkovich, the series about the legendary pirate Blackbeard will set sail May 30 with Neil Cross at the helm behind the scenes. Cross also created BBC smash hit Luther which could be as big of a selling point to viewers as it likely was for advertisers. The big concern here is that audiences get the show confused with Starz’s Black Sails which aired its first season earlier in the year on Starz. It’s a fair point and some have wondered if the show being held back for so long is indicative of its quality. Given the pedigree of talent attached, I doubt that’s the case, but perception and reality are two different things in Holllywood.

The other big financial gamble NBC will take this summer is with Taxi: Brooklyn which is not your typical series. The network acquired Taxi from overseas where audiences have already fallen in love with the premise thanks to four feature films from director Luc Besson. The premise, tweaked for TV, revolves around a taxi driver (Inglourious Basterds’ Jacky Ido) who agrees to become a chaffer for a demoted detective (Grey’s Anatomy’s Chyler Leigh) while she looks into the murder of her father (and former fellow NYPD officer) in turn for her help fixing his legal status.

American audience may better recognize Besson as the man behind The Transporter, Taken and La Femme Nikita franchises which will be a major selling point. This also won’t be NBC’s first time partnering with a foreign network, but it’s the first in a while to get buzz and that’s largely in part to Besson and his three female leads including Leigh, Jennifer Esposito (Blue Bloods) and Ally Walker (Profiler). Again, as with its reality slate, this is a low-risk, high-reward gamble and you never know what audiences will gravitate to during the summer.

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