The venerable newsmagazine “Dateline” is moving up on NBC’s Friday schedule and it’s also adding a new hour on Wednesdays for the crucial November sweeps.
Starting tomorrow, the show airs at 8pmET/7pmCT. And beginning November 6, for three weeks, a new Wednesday episode will air at 10pmET. Currently, NBC has been running back-to-back episodes of “Law & Order: SVU” at 9 and 10pm.
Season-to-date, “Dateline” is the No. 1 Friday newsmagazine, topping “20/20” in total viewers by +18% and in the A25-54 demo by +6%. Compared to the first three weeks of last season, the show has posted the largest audience growth of any newsmagazine, up +22% among total viewers.
Keith Morrison, who’s been with the show since 1995, thinks he knows why the show is still going strong: “Our current fascination with murder mysteries seems to be on steroids!” Morrison tells the Daily Mail. “Some of the most watched shows on TV – even the fiction programs – are about crime.”
Here’s how the network newsmagazines are stacking up this season:
- 60 Minutes (CBS/Sunday) – 13.547M total viewers / 2.4 A18-49 rating
- Dateline (NBC/Friday) – 5.804M total viewers / 1.3 A18-49 rating.
- 48 Hours (CBS/Saturday) – 5.247M total viewers / 0.9 A18-49 rating
- 20/20 (ABC/Friday) – 4.913M total viewers / 1.3 A18-49 rating