| Dateline NBC | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Dateline |
| Genre | Newsmagazine True crime |
| Presented by | Lester Holt Julio Vaqueiro (for past anchors,see section) |
| Composer | Michael Karp (1992–2007) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original languages | English Spanish |
| No. of seasons | 34 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Paul Ryan[1] Liz Cole |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 2 hours (including commercials) |
| Production company | Peacock Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | NBC Telemundo |
| Release | March 31, 1992 (1992-03-31) – present |
| Related | |
| NBC Nightly News | |
Dateline NBC (also known simply asDateline) is a weekly American televisionnews magazine reality legal show that is broadcast onNBC andTelemundo. Created in 1992, it was initially the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but evolved to focus mainly ontrue crime stories with only occasional episodes that focus on other topics. The program airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m.Eastern Time (9:00 p.m. Eastern for special two-hour editions). Special weekend encore editions also air at 9 or 10:00 p.m. (two-hour editions at 7 and 8:00 p.m. depending on the night). One or two-hour feature-length editions sometimes air on any given scheduled evening, often to fill vacancies in the primetime schedule on the program's respective nights due to program cancellations. In February 2021, the program aired its first ever docuseries, "The Widower", a five-hour true crime saga about a man who married six women, four of whom died.
Dateline is historically notable for its longevity on NBC, compared to the fifteen newsmagazines (often cloning the formulas of20/20 and60 Minutes) the network tried from the mid-70s until its debut. Each of these earlier shows ended ignominiously, often in the same year, or even the month they premiered, and were barely promoted, much less needed, during NBC's ratings domination of entertainment programming in the 1980s. The creation ofDateline also served to smooth relations with original anchorJane Pauley, who had been controversially pushed out fromToday and seen her own primetime make-up vehicle, the light news-focusedReal Life with Jane Pauley, poorly paired with a tabloid newsmagazine,Exposè.[2]
The program debuted on March 31, 1992, initially airing only on Tuesdays, with Jane Pauley andStone Phillips serving as its co-anchors.Tom Brokaw andKatie Couric joined the program when the previously separate newsmagazineNow with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric was converted intoDateline Wednesday. Gradually, the program expanded with the addition of a third night (on Friday) in 1994 and a fourth night (on Monday) in 1997, peaking at five nights a week with Sundays in mid-1999 and 2000. The number of nights that the program aired began to be reduced due to viewer exhaustion and the rise of equally economic and popularreality television programming. Editions first began to be removed in the spring of 2001, with the main Tuesday slot being eliminated in 2004.[3]
Dateline was the first "multi-night" franchise that "established brand power by 'stripping' editions," a strategy by NBC's entertainment division to place the program in the same time slot every week. It was considered to be a singular program rather than multiple weekly programs, and included many teasers and multiple installment interviews (NBC later tried a similar strategy of "stripping" withThe Jay Leno Show in 2009). In its prime, from 1995 to 1999,Dateline provided significantbreaking news coverage. The program featured sensationalized news stories and drew in viewers with stories aired in multiple installments. By 1999, any one individualDateline edition placed inNielsen's top 10 most-watched television programs among total viewers during most weeks. NBC capitalized on its relationship withCNBC andMSNBC by airing repackaged stories seen on pastDateline broadcasts on the retrospective seriesHeadliners and Legends andTime and Again.[3]
The program first originated from NBC Studio 3K, using the same set that was used at the time forNBC Nightly News. WhenToday moved to its current facility, NBC Studio 1A, in 1994,Dateline took over Studio 3B and received its own brand-new dedicated set.
Past contributing anchors wereBryant Gumbel, who left NBC in 1997,Maria Shriver, who left NBC in 2004, andKatie Couric, who left NBC in 2006. On June 24, 2005,Ann Curry co-anchored "Dateline" for the first time and became permanent host shortly thereafter.
Dateline began broadcasting inhigh definition for the first time on July 21, 2008, with an episode titled "Tower Dogs".Dateline previously shared the multi-level Studio 1A withToday. However, in 2013, the program moved back to Studio 3K, where the early-morning news programsEarly Today andMSNBC'sMorning Joe First Look are also broadcast.Lester Holt replaced Ann Curry as host ofDateline with the start of the 20th season on September 23, 2011, shortly after Curry became permanent co-host ofToday.
On November 17, 1992,Dateline NBC aired an hour-long investigative report titled "Waiting to Explode," which focused on allegations thatGeneral Motors'Rounded-LineChevrolet C/K-Seriespickup trucks exploded upon impact when involved in collisions due to the poor design of the vehicle model's fuel tanks.Dateline's footage showed a sample of a low-speed accident in which the fuel tank exploded; the explosion during the crash test would later be discovered to have been staged by an expert witness for hire against GM, Bruce Enz of The Institute for Safety Analysis. Enz usedincendiary devices and a poorly fitted gas cap to create the impression of a dangerous vehicle.[4] The program did not disclose the fact that the accident was staged.[5]
GM hired investigators fromFailure Analysis Associates (FaAA, nowExponent) to study the footage; FaAA investigators discovered while reviewing the video that smoke had actually started to expel from the fuel tank six frames before the actual impact occurred. Acting on a tip from someone involved with theDateline crash test, investigators with FaAA searched through 22 junkyards inIndiana before finding the charred wreckage of the GM pickups.[6]
It was also later revealed that theDateline report had been dishonest about the fuel tanks rupturing and the alleged 30 miles per hour (48 km/h) speed at which the collision was conducted. The actual speed was found to be higher than stated, around 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), and afterx-ray examination of the fuel tanks from the C/K pickups used in the televised collision, it was found that they had not ruptured and were intact.[7][8] GM subsequently filed an anti-defamation/libel lawsuit against NBC after conducting an extensive investigation. On February 8, 1993, after announcing the lawsuit, GM conducted a highly publicized point-by-point rebuttal in the Product Exhibit Hall of theGeneral Motors Building inDetroit that lasted nearly two hours.[9][10]
The General Motors lawsuit and the subsequent settlement were arguably the most devastating blows for NBC in a series of reputation damaging incidents during the 1990s and early 2000s. Within NBC,Michael Gartner, who resigned under pressure shortly after the incident, was the source for much of the blame. NBC News PresidentReuven Frank stated Gartner was hired in 1988, despite having no background in television news, in an attempt to satisfy parent companyGeneral Electric, by replacing current journalists with cheaper, less experienced reporters and producers.[11]
In addition to the resignation of the news division's president Gartner, threeDateline NBC producers were dismissed as a result of the incident and the findings of the resulting investigation: executive producer Jeff Diamond, senior producer David Rummel, and Robert Read, producer of the report on the pickups. Michele Gillen, the correspondent involved in the segment, was transferred to NBC's Miamiowned-and-operated stationWTVJ, where she became an anchor of the station's evening newscasts.
In August 2007,Dateline reporter Michelle Madigan attempted to secretly record hackers admitting to crimes at that year'sDEF CON inLas Vegas, Nevada. After being outed by DEF CON founderJeff Moss during an assembly, she was heckled and chased out of the conference by attendees for her use of covert audio and video recording equipment. DEF CON staff tried to get Madigan to obtain apress pass before the outing happened.[12] A DEF CON source at NBC News had tipped off organizers to Madigan's plans.[13]
To Catch a Predator was a special series of reports, hosted byChris Hansen, featuringhidden camerasting operations that bust potentialsex offenders who carry outonline chats with children with the intent of luring them to meet in person and engage in illegal sexual activity. The stings are conducted in partnership withPerverted-Justice, and begin for each potential offender with recordings of online chats of him with a "decoy" employed with the organization, posing as minor, generally between the ages of 12 and 15.[14] If the potential offender and the decoy make an appointment, this is at the pretended home of the pretended minor, which is in fact a house prepared for the television show, with police hiding outside for the subsequent arrest of the offender outside the house.
During the filming of each episode, men who attempt to meet the minor in person are filmed as they enter inside the "sting" house. Shortly after the target is inside, often after talking to the Perverted-Justice decoy (who either briefly meets with the men or converses with them from another room), Hansen would confront each suspect and ask them about their online conversations (which were transcribed and printed) with the decoy. After the confrontation, the men are taken into custody by local police. Some men were arrested even if they never entered the home in question.[15] The segment was cancelled in early 2008 in part due to criticism of the show as well as legal issues.
“Wild Wild Web” was a limited Dateline series in which host Chris Hansen would go undercover to reply to illegal or unethical online advertisements. With hidden cameras rolling, Hansen and his producers met with a hitman, people selling body parts, and sweetheart swindles.[16]
To Catch a Con Man was a series of hidden camera investigations devoted to the subject of identifying and detainingcon men who attempted to extract money from victims inadvance fee fraud scams, although some editions also focused on exposing and catchingidentity thieves. The stories, which were also reported by Chris Hansen (who called the identity thieves that the series investigates "a different kind of predator"), were conducted as anundercover sting operation in partnership with cardcops.com, a credit card watchdog group which investigates identity thefts and aims to catch the suspects in the act.
Richard Engel hosted a tie-in version leading intoThe Blacklist about significant crimes and conspiracies.[17]
The Widower is Dateline's first ever docuseries.The Widower takes viewers behind the scenes of a decade-long investigation into Thomas Randolph, an eccentric Las Vegas man accused of killing his wife Sharon. With hundreds of hours of exclusive footage, Dateline NBC veteran producer Dan Slepian captures the confounding murder investigation that soon reveals Sharon was Randolph's sixth wife - and the fourth to die under mysterious circumstances.[18]
A spin-off series,Dateline: The Last Day premiered on June 14, 2022 onPeacock.[19]
Dateline focuses on true crime and human interest stories, predominantly featuring a single story for the entire program.[20]Keith Morrison often serves as narrator for certain editions, usually reporting on real-life murder mysteries chronicled in many editions, andcliffhangers are used prior to commercial breaks.[21] Famous con manSteve Comisar appeared regularly onDateline as a fraud prevention expert.[22]
The Friday night edition ofDateline features special emphasis on true crime stories, which previously included the "To Catch a Predator" series. Most NBC News specials, either in the form of special interviews or extended special reports on pertinent breaking news stories that occurred earlier in the day, are also broadcast under theDateline banner. However, on occasion, the Sunday broadcasts (airing in a time slot otherwise reserved for family-friendly programming, aside fromCBS' competitor60 Minutes) focuses on stories tailored for younger viewers, such as recent Sunday reports on teen drivers and child safety; on other weeks, the Sunday editions feature either true crime stories, stories recounting situations in which people have survived life-threatening situations, consumer reports or interviews.
Dateline features a single story format, although in the past the program maintained a traditional newsmagazine format with multiple segments of varying length, such as with the Sunday version,[21] which in particular still occasionally features multiple story packages that are tied to a specific theme. Unlike the other flagship newsmagazines on U.S. television (CBS'60 Minutes andABC's20/20),Dateline featured more character-driven stories focusing on the audience's emotional attachment to the persons featured, and fewer non-character driven international and national news stories. However, the success ofDateline led to the other networks to create additional versions of their newsmagazines,60 Minutes II and additional nights of20/20 (which were often not as successful).[3]
Executive producerNeal Shapiro pioneered several "signature segments" that appeared regularly on the program. These includedDateline: Survivor, in which a person recounts anear-death experience and their eventual rescue;Dateline Timeline, in which a popular product, person and music single are shown/played that viewers are invited to guess what year it was from;State of the Art, explaining how aspecial effect or stunt in a movie was technically accomplished;Consumer Alert, in which common consumer complaints or issues (such asfood safety and products of suspect quality that may be dangerous) are investigated,Dateline Hidden Camera Investigation, a story using hidden cameras to focus on an issue of public concern; andNewsmakers, light interviews with major figures in politics, entertainment, and business, as well as regular people in the news. The program also included cross-promotional segments withCourt TV and magazinesPeople,Good Housekeeping andConsumer Reports. In the 1990s, a common week would feature several "signature segments," breaking news, updates on past stories shown on the program, multi-part investigations, and interviews.[3]Dateline also pioneered the use of viewer feedback including telephone polling and a unique format, the "InteractiveDateline Mystery," where viewers voted (similar toChoose Your Own Adventure) on where the story should go next.[23]
In 2019, taking advantage of the recent popularity of true crimepodcasts such asSerial, and as part of a larger push into the medium by the division, NBC News launched aDateline podcast; the podcast launched with the seven-episode story13 Alibis.Dateline producers stated that the podcast stories would be able to go more in-depth on topics than the television series, and did not rule out other types of content—including audio-only versions of stories from its archives, as well as extensions and updates to stories from the television series. In August 2022, when the podcast launched a premium subscription onApple Podcasts, theDateline podcast had 775 million downloads, and was ranked as the sixth-largest podcast in the U.S. by Podtrac.[24][25][26]
Anchor
Contributing anchor
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Former anchors
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Repackaged hour-long true crime episodes ofDateline air on various cable and satellite channels such asInvestigation Discovery,E!,USA Network (E! and USA are owned by NBC parent companyNBCUniversal) andOWN, usually with the network names suffixing the generic branding ofDateline on.... Several other brandings exist, withDateline: Secrets Uncovered as a part ofOxygen,Dateline: Real Life Mysteries onTLC (along withDateline on TLC), andDateline Extra the branding for repackaged episodes onMSNBC, also owned by NBCUniversal. All episodes are repackaged by NBC News under its non-fictionPeacock Productions banner. The NBCUniversal streaming servicePeacock has featured a full-time streaming channel made up ofDateline episodes since its July 2020 launch. NBC News' free streaming channel, NBC News NOW, also airs episodes ofDateline NBC every weekend.
On September 25, 2017,Dateline began airing archived true crime-focused episodes in dailybroadcast syndication; the NBC branding was completely removed. These episodes also air as part ofMyNetworkTV's lineups.[29]
In February 2025, NBC News announced that it would begin to produce a Spanish-language version of the series for sister networkTelemundo; it will be presented byNoticias Telemundo anchor Julio Vaqueiro.[30]
Dateline is broadcast in Canada, mainly through NBC and MyNetworkTV affiliates from U.S. border cities (such asKING-TV andKZJO inSeattle,WDIV-TV andWADL inDetroit, andWGRZ-TV andWNYO-TV inBuffalo, New York) that are widely available in that country; until the fall of 2022, new editions of the show were not simulcast on a Canadian network nationwide, though many of the same Canadian counterparts to the cable networks mentioned in the syndication section air the repackagedDateline on... episodes as a part of their own schedules (especially those containing domestic stories), and some other American stations airing in Canada carry theDateline syndicated package outside of network hours. Since the fall of 2022,Citytvsimultaneously airs new episodes ofDateline with NBC in Canada (with domestic advertising), a rarity as Canadian networks do not generally simulcast American newsmagazines. Since January 2025, the syndicated version ofDateline also airs on the newly launched channelOxygen Canada fromBell Media.
Dateline NBC is also seen on the 24-hour news networkOrbit News inEurope and theMiddle East, which broadcasts MSNBC and other NBC News programs for several hours a day. It is also broadcast on theSeven Network in Australia on Sundays at 5 a.m., although is pre-empted by paid programming on regional affiliatesPrime Television andGolden West Network. In the Philippines, the program airs onTAP Edge.
NOTE: Data from 2007 to present includes Live+ Ratings.
| Season | Nielsen ranking | Average viewership |
|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 10.720(Friday)[31] | |
| 2006–07 | no data available | |
| 2007–08 | no data available | |
| 2008–09 | no data available[32] | |
| 2009–10 | no data available | |
| 2010–11 | 4.916(Sunday) 6.117(Friday)[33] | |
| 2011–12 | 5.097(Sunday) 5.148(Friday)[34] | |
| 2012–13 | 5.913(Sunday) 5.572(Wednesday) 5.429(Friday)[35] | |
| 2013–14 | no data available |
