The NBC network is beleaguered no more.

After nearly a decade in the ratings cellar, NBC is poised to finish the prime-time TV season in May in first place in the coveted advertising demographic of viewers aged 18 to 49.

February's coverage of the Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia, generated strong viewership and $1.1 billion in revenue, Comcast executives said in announcing the Philadelphia-based company's first-quarter earnings, which exceeded analyst expectations.

For the quarter ended March 31, NBCUniversal revenue was up 28.8% to $6.9 billion. Excluding Olympics ad sales, NBCUniversal revenue grew 8%.

The Olympics were only part of the story, Roberts said, touting the job his NBC team -- including NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt -- has done to restore the peacock network to some of its past glory.

"It's an incredible turnaround story," Roberts said

The network has made gains in prime time, especially with "The Blacklist" with James Spader and the singing competition show "The Voice," and in late night, its high-profile switches in February have paid off. Jimmy Fallon, who replaced Jay Leno at "The Tonight Show," and Seth Meyers, who replaced Fallon, quickly scored in ratings.

At the NBC broadcast TV unit, which includes the network and television stations, revenue was up 72% to $2.6 billion, primarily due to strong ad sales for the Olympics. The Olympics contributed $846 million to the broadcast network's top line.

NBC should end the regular TV season next month with ratings 12% higher than the second-place finisher, NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke told analysts.

We are going into the upfront with the strongest position that we've had in a decade," Burke said. He noted that NBC's turnaround should help the media company increase its share of the advertising pie during the springtime sales season known as the upfront.

I'm surprised that NBC has two shows I watch, until Heroes that channel never had anything the entire decade before that.