Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC (also known simply as Dateline) is a weekly American television news magazine reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasional editions 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.
For the Australian television current affairs program, see Dateline (Australian TV program). For other uses, see Dateline (disambiguation).Dateline NBC
Dateline
Lester Holt
(for past anchors, see section)
Michael Karp (1992–2007)
United States
English
32
Paul Ryan[1]
Liz Cole
2 hours (including commercials)
March 31, 1992 –
present
History[edit]
Early[edit]
Dateline is historically notable for its longevity on the network, compared to the fifteen newsmagazines (often cloning the formulas of 20/20 and 60 Minutes) NBC tried from the mid-70s until its debut which each debuted and 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 entertainment-wise in the 1980s. It also served to smooth relations with original anchor Jane Pauley, who had been controversially pushed out from Today and seen her own primetime make-up vehicle, the light news-focused Real 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 Stone Phillips and Jane Pauley serving as its co-anchors. Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric joined the program when the previously separate newsmagazine Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric was converted into Dateline 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 popular reality 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" with The Jay Leno Show in 2009). In its prime, from 1995 to 1999, Dateline provided significant breaking news coverage. The program featured sensationalized news stories and drew in viewers with stories aired in multiple installments. By 1999, any one individual Dateline edition placed in Nielsen's top 10 most-watched television programs among total viewers during most weeks. NBC capitalized on its relationship with CNBC and MSNBC by airing repackaged stories seen on past Dateline broadcasts on the retrospective series Headliners and Legends and Time and Again.[3]
The program first originated from NBC Studio 3K, using the same set that was used at the time for NBC Nightly News. When Today 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 were Bryant Gumbel, who left NBC in 1997, Maria Shriver, who left NBC in 2004, and Katie 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 in high definition for the first time on July 21, 2008, with an episode titled "Tower Dogs". Dateline previously shared the multi-level Studio 1A with Today. However, in 2013, the program moved back to Studio 3K, where the early-morning news programs Early Today and MSNBC's Morning Joe First Look are also broadcast. Lester Holt replaced Ann Curry as host of Dateline with the start of the 20th season on September 23, 2011, shortly after Curry became permanent co-host of Today.
Comparison with other news magazines[edit]
In contrast to NBC's now-cancelled "hard news" magazine program, Rock Center with Brian Williams, 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, and cliffhangers are used prior to commercial breaks.[21] Famous con man Steve Comisar appeared regularly on Dateline as a fraud prevention expert.[22]
The Friday night edition of Dateline 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 the Dateline banner. However, on occasion, the Sunday broadcasts (airing in a time slot otherwise reserved for family-friendly programming, aside from CBS' competitor 60 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 and ABC's 20/20), 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 of Dateline led to the other networks to create additional versions of their newsmagazines, 60 Minutes II and additional nights of 20/20 (which were often not as successful).[3]
Executive producer Neal Shapiro pioneered several "signature segments" that appeared regularly on the program. These included Dateline: Survivor, in which a person recounts a near-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 a special effect or stunt in a movie was technically accomplished; Consumer Alert, in which common consumer complaints or issues (such as food 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; and Newsmakers, 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 with Court TV and magazines People, Good Housekeeping and Consumer 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 "Interactive Dateline Mystery," where viewers voted (similar to Choose Your Own Adventure) on where the story should go next.[23]
NOTE: Data from 2007 to present includes Live+ Ratings.