Dateline, a nationally syndicated version of NBC’s long-running newsmagazine, has been sold for a sixth season to TV stations covering more than 90% of the U.S., said Sean O’Boyle, executive vice president of syndication sales, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios on Wednesday.
Dateline currently airs as a one-hour weekday strip on TV stations, and several NBC-owned television stations in the top markets recently picked up the show for next season. Dateline’s sixth-season syndication lineup includes WNBC New York, WMAQ Chicago, WCAU Philadelphia, KRON San Francisco, KXAS Dallas-Fort Worth, WRC-TV Washington DC, KPNX Phoenix, WTVJ Miami-Fort Lauderdale, KUSA Denver, KXTV Sacramento, KGW Portland, WRTV Indianapolis and WDRB Louisville. These stations and more represent such station groups as Tegna, Fox, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hearst Television, Nexstar Media Group, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps, Sunbeam, Weigel Television, Block Communications, Hubbard and more.
“Dateline continues to be best-in-class programming in the ever-popular ‘True Crime’ genre,“ O’Boyle said in a statement. “Its successful run in syndication started in 2017, when it entered the marketplace as a utility program. Now heading into its sixth season, Dateline has grown to be a top performer for local stations, which are increasingly airing it in important time periods on leading news stations.”
“We’re excited that this opportunity will allow fans and new viewers to watch Dateline on some of the top stations across the country. We’re grateful that these stations — new partners and some we’ve had a relationship with for years — are choosing to include Dateline as part of their successful programming,” said David Corvo, senior executive producer of Dateline, and Liz Cole, executive producer of Dateline and president of NBC News Studios. ■
