The True Crime Original Increases A25-54 & A18-49 Viewers vs. Last Year & Quarter, Tops ABC’s ‘20/20’ By Double Digits
Remains #1 Most-Watched News Magazine & True-Crime Franchise with 92.1 million Total Viewers
Dateline 24/7 Marks 3rd Best Quarter on Record as the Dateline Showcast Grows by Double Digits
July 1, 2026 – Dateline wins Friday nights in the key demos for 2Q’26, topping ABC’s 20/20 for the 10th consecutive quarter, most recently by double digits. According to Nielsen Media Research, the true crime original averages 786,000 A25-54 viewers, +31,000 vs. last quarter and +11,000 vs. last year. Among A18-49 viewers, Dateline averages 538,000 viewers, growing +1,000 vs. last quarter and +31,000 vs. last year. Dateline also averaged 3.4 million total viewers.
The broadcast remains the #1 most-watched news magazine franchise and the #1 most-watched true crime franchise in total linear minutes watched for 2Q’26, with 92.1 million total viewers, up +3% vs. last year. During 2Q’26, viewers also consumed over 28.2 billion minutes of Dateline across TV and digital platforms. The streaming network, Dateline 24/7, also marked its 3rd best quarter on record and its 2nd straight quarter with quarter over quarter growth. Additionally, Dateline’s chart-topping showcast, which features broadcasts as podcast episodes, marked 30 million total downloads, growing +18% vs. last quarter. True Crime Weekly, hosted by correspondent Andrea Canning, also delivered its 2nd best quarter on record.
During 2Q’26, Dateline launched the top-charting podcast from Keith Morrison, Five Miles from Home, and featured extensive reporting from Lester Holt on the trial of Luigi Mangione and the tragedy at Camp Mystic. During this time, Dateline also debuted the Dateline en Español always-on streaming channel hosted by Noticias Telemundo and Weekend NBC Nightly News anchor José Díaz-Balart. The 35th season of NBC’s longest-running primetime show kicks off in September.
Dateline 24/7 Source: Adobe Analytics & Partner Dashboards, Hours Viewed.
Podcast Source: Simplecast, Downloads.
###
Dominique DonahueDominique.Donahue@nbcuni.com
