Correspondent Josh Mankiewicz to Report on Murder of Colorado Mother, Click Here to Watch Preview
New Season Kicks Off Ahead of Inaugural ‘Dateline Live’ Event this Sunday in Nashville
PLUS: ‘Dateline’ is #1 Across the Board for 2024–2025 Season
September 24, 2025 — Dateline NBC, the true crime original, launches its 34th season this Friday at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT with its milestone 3000th episode entitled, The Phantom. During the two-hour broadcast, correspondent Josh Mankiewicz reports on the murder of Colorado mother Kristil Krug. As investigators initially think the case is pointing to an obvious suspect, they uncover an elaborate plot that turns everything upside down.
Click here to watch preview.
The new season launches on the heels of Dateline ranking #1 across the board for the 2024–2025 season. For the first time since the 2019-2020 season, Dateline outperformed ABC’s 20/20 in every key metric. On streaming, the Dateline 24/7 channel notched its fifth consecutive record-breaking season for hours viewed. The franchise’s podcast portfolio also continued its dominance, surpassing 300 million downloads for the fourth straight year across both the showcast and original titles, with the showcast retaining its position as the #1 true crime podcast, according to Podtrac.
This weekend, Dateline will host an inaugural special live event in Nashville on Sunday, September 28, featuring anchor Lester Holt and correspondents Blayne Alexander, Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison, and Dennis Murphy together. The event will include panel discussions, interviews with individuals who have shared their stories on Dateline, audience Q&As, and a special VIP reception with the Dateline team. Actors Annette O’Toole and Michael McKean will co-host the first session, True Crime, True Impact, at 5 p.m. CT. Actor Holly Robinson Peete will host the second session, Dateline Confidential.
Click here to learn more about Dateline Live.
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2024-2025 BROADCAST SEASON RATINGS
| Program | P2+ | P18-49 | P25-54 |
| Imps | Imps | Imps | |
| DATELINE-FRI | 3,350 | 493 | 748 |
| 20/20-FRI | 3,327 | 415 | 638 |
Source: Nielsen, L+7 Most Current, 9/23/2024-9/19/2025. Average audience based on regularly-titled telecasts only, repeats and specials excluded.
Source for Dateline 24/7:Adobe Analytics & Partner Dashboards for Hours Viewed, October 2024 – September 2025. Hours Viewed are estimated for the final week in September 2025.
Source for Dateline podcasts: Simplecast for Downloads, October 2024 – September 2025. Downloads are estimated for the final week in September 2025. Podtrac for True Crime ranking through August 2025.
About Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC is the longest-running series in NBC primetime history and enters its 34th season this Friday. Dateline is anchored by Lester Holt and features correspondents Blayne Alexander, Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy. Airing Fridays at 9/8c, Dateline also airs across NBC, cable and in broadcast syndication, with hundreds of hours available to stream on the global Dateline 24/7 channel. Dateline 24/7 can be viewed and/or listened to on Peacock, Roku, YouTube, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi, Pluto TV, Local Now, Xfinity, Amazon Fire TV Channels and Prime Video, TuneIn, Xumo, TCLTV+ and SiriusXM. Additionally, the newsmagazine reaches millions through its #1 podcasts and its showcast. Liz Cole is the senior executive producer and Paul Ryan is the executive producer.
For more information:
Dominique Donahue
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