"DATELINE" STARTS 24th SEASON STRONG AS THIRD QUARTER'S #1 NEWSMAGAZINE

NBC's Dateline Season 24 Premiere, "Footprint in the Dust," Airs Friday, September 25 at 9p/8c

Dateline Correspondents Will Travel to Fans Across the Country and Live Tweet for the #DontWatchAlone Social Media Event

New York - September 24, 2015 -- NBC's Dateline returns for another thrilling season of true crime and mystery. Keith Morrison kicks off season 24 by following the case of Susan Casey, a loving mother of four who vanished just 20 steps from her apartment in a small Montana town. Police soon discover that three men in her life were on her street in the early morning hour when she disappeared. It would take investigators five years for an arrest to be made - but why? The two-hour season premiere of Dateline, "Footprint in the Dust," airs Friday, September 25 at 9p/8c on NBC.

VIDEO PREVIEW: http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/preview-footprint-in-the-dust-529404995865

Dateline begins its 24th season as the number-one newsmagazine show for the third quarter, ranking in the top 20 primetime shows almost every week. Additionally, Dateline boasts more than two million followers across all social media platforms.

Also on Friday, in an unprecedented social event, Dateline will take the concept of #DontWatchAlone to a whole new level. The Dateline correspondents will fan out across the country to one of the following locations to live tweet and spend the evening watching the premiere with viewers.

· Los Angeles, CA (Keith Morrison, @dateline_keith)

· Nashville, TN (Dennis Murphy, @dateline_dennis)

· Baltimore, MD (Josh Mankiewicz, @JoshMankiewicz)

· Florida (Andrea Canning, @CanningAndrea)

· New York City (Lester Holt, @LesterHoltNBC)

Preview here: http://www.nbcnews.com/dateline/video/a-puzzle-to-solve-530315331982

Viewers are encouraged to join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @DatelineNBC using #Dateline and #DontWatchAlone and on Snapchat at dateline.nbc.

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Dateline NBC is the award-winning newsmagazine known for its distinctive storytelling on a wide range of topics from true crime investigations and mysteries, to breaking news reports and special series. It airs on NBC in primetime and reaches an average audience of 7 million viewers and is followed by more than 2 million across social media platforms. David Corvo is the senior executive producer, Liz Cole is the executive producer and Lester Holt is the primary anchor of "Dateline NBC" (Fridays at 9pm/8c). Follow Dateline NBC on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @datelinenbc and on Snapchat at dateline.nbc.