or


[09/27/11 - 02:18 PM]
The Premiere of "Dateline's" 20th Season Comes in at #1 Across the Board
NBC spins the numbers for Friday, September 23.

[via press release from NBC]

THE PREMIERE OF "DATELINE'S" 20TH SEASON COMES IN AT #1 ACROSS THE BOARD

Newsmagazine Launches New Season with Lester Holt as Principal Anchor and A Multi-Platform Branding Campaign #HowDoYouDateline

New York - NY - September 27, 2011 - The premiere of "Dateline's" 20th season, was the #1 program on Friday, September 23, 2011 for the time period among ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW in adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and other key categories. This marks the 12th week in a row and the 15th time in its last 16 telecasts that Friday's "Dateline" ranked #1 or tied for #1 in the slot among non-sports programs on those networks in adults 18-49 according to Nielsen Media Research.

Also on that night, Lester Holt made his debut as principal anchor of "Dateline" and the newsmagazine launched its multi-platform branding campaign, #HowDoYouDateline. The campaign, that appeared online and on-air, reflects how "Dateline's" viewers watch and engage in the show. A strong online community, Dateline has grown its Facebook audience organically from 47K to almost 178K users over the past 10 months. In that same time, its Twitterverse has grown from 14K to nearly 30K followers. Viewers use the hashtag #HowDoYouDateline to share what they do when they watch the show. Holt tweeted and a promo ran on-air and online about how he "datelines." An ongoing campaign that will evolve throughout the season, promos for correspondents Chris Hansen, Hoda Kotb, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy will roll out in the coming weeks.

Following are some additional stats for the night:

· Versus its year-ago season premiere, "Dateline NBC" is up 25 percent in 18-49 rating (2.0 vs. 1.6). This is the top 18-49 rating for a Friday "Dateline" since December 11, 2009 and the biggest overall audience for a Friday "Dateline" since March 25, 2011.

· "Dateline NBC" tied for the #1 rating of the night in adults 18-49 (with CBS's season premiere of "Blue Bloods," which "Dateline" out-rated head to head from 10-11 p.m.). This marks the 14th time in 17 weeks that "Dateline NBC" has ranked #1 or tied for #1 among all non-sports Friday telecasts on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW.

· From its first half-hour to its fourth, "Dateline" grew by 50 percent in 18-49 rating (to a 2.4 from a 1.6) and by 40 percent or 2.3 million persons in total viewers (8.2 million vs. 5.9 million). For its second hour from 10-11 p.m., "Dateline NBC" was #1 among ABC, CBS and NBC in all key demographics -- adults, men and women 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.

· In the 10:30 lead-in to local news, "Dateline NBC" delivered an 11 percent margin of victory in the key news demo of adults 25-54 (with a 3.1 rating vs. a 2.8 for CBS's second-place season premiere of "Blue Bloods"). "Dateline" was also #1 among ABC, CBS and NBC in the 10:30 half-hour in all other key demographics, pending updates.

· NBC is currently tied for #2 for the night among ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and CW in adults 18-49, just a tenth of a point out of first place, and is also tied for #1 in adults 18-34 and #1 outright in men 18-34.

· There were nearly 1,400 responses as viewers joined in on the discussion with Josh Mankiewicz's live Facebook chat

"Dateline" featured the following story on Friday, September 23, 2011:

Josh Mankiewicz told the story of Quinn Gray, the mother of 2 little girls who said she was kidnapped from her multi-million dollar oceanfront home in Ponte Vedra, Florida. A community in shock, over 150 investigators spent several harrowing days trying to save Gray's life. In a story straight out of a Hollywood movie, this high-stakes case has a shocking ending.

###

David Corvo is the senior executive producer and Liz Cole is the executive producer of "Dateline NBC" (Fridays at 9pm and Sundays at 7pm ET). Follow "Dateline" on Facebook and Twitter @datelinenbc.





  [september 2011]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· DATELINE NBC (NBC)





most recent ratings | view all posts
[07/17/25 - 01:31 PM]
Netflix: What We Watched the First Half of 2025
This report, which captures ~99% of all viewing in the first half of 2025, shows that people watched a lot of Netflix - over 95B hours - spanning a wide range of genres and languages.

[07/17/25 - 09:57 AM]
"Dexter: Resurrection" Debuts to a Killer 3.1 Million Cross-Platform Viewers
Said premiere was up 44% versus "Dexter: Original Sin" and 79% versus "Dexter: New Blood."

[07/16/25 - 04:01 PM]
ESPN Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Indiana Fever vs Connecticut Sun Averaged 1.7 Million Viewers, Up 48% from Last Year's ESPN Average
Said telecast peaked with 2 million viewers.

[07/15/25 - 02:06 PM]
Viewership for 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby Exclusively on ESPN Platforms Up Five Percent From Last Year
An average audience of 5,729,000 viewers watched the event, compared to 5,451,000 viewers in 2024.

[07/15/25 - 01:04 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers" for 2nd Consecutive Week
"Nightline" posted Total Viewer gains both week to week and year to year.

[07/15/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of July 7: "KPop Demon Hunters" Spends Another Golden Week at No. 1 in This Week's Top 10
"The Sandman's" second season entered the Top 10 in 89 countries last week, while claiming the No. 1 spot in English TV with 5.9 million views.

[07/15/25 - 09:04 AM]
ABC Airs Another of Its Most-Watched WNBA Games Ever: Dallas Wings vs Indiana Fever Averaged 2.1 Million Viewers, Up 69% from Last Year's ABC Average
Said audience peaked with 2.5 million viewers.

[07/14/25 - 06:08 PM]
"Celebrity Family Feud" Returns with Best Premiere in Three Years
Overall, the season 11 premiere notched the show's best performance for any telecast in Total Viewers (4.16 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.42 rating) since 8/28/22 and 8/13/23, respectively.

[07/14/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix and MVP's Taylor-Serrano 3 Goes the Distance with Nearly 6 Million Global Viewers
In the US, an estimated AMA of 4.2 million viewers tuned in to the main event (Live+1) according to VideoAmp and Netflix, making it the most-watched professional women's sports event of 2025.

[07/11/25 - 12:45 PM]
ABC Concludes September to May Season with Top Five Shows Among Adults 18-49 Including "High Potential," "Abbott Elementary," "The Rookie," "Shifting Gears" and "9-1-1"
Continuing to lead among broadcast series, ABC's "High Potential" stood as the No. 1 new drama among Total Viewers (16.41 million) and No. 1 new show among Adults 18-49 (3.85 rating).

[07/11/25 - 11:28 AM]
"Big Brother: Summer of Mystery" Premiere Up +10% from Last Summer
Last night, season 27 premiered to nearly 3 million viewers.

[07/09/25 - 03:03 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
"Nightline" saw gains on the same week last year in Total Viewers (+3% - 663,000 vs. 644,000) and Adults 18-49 (+4% - 96,000 vs. 92,000).

[07/08/25 - 06:05 PM]
ESPN Formula 1 Coverage Enjoying Record-Breaking Season of Viewership
11 of 12 races held so far this season have had year-over-year viewership growth and seven of the 12 have set event viewership records.

[07/08/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of June 30: "Squid Game" Season 3 Leads Top 10 Globally, Climbs to No. 3 on Most Popular
Plus: "The Waterfront" maintained its Top 10 empire as the No. 1 English show in its third week with 5.6 million views.

[07/08/25 - 06:30 AM]
New AMC/AMC+ Epic Adventure Drama "Nautilus" Surfaces with 2.6 Million Premiere Night Viewers on Linear TV
The highly anticipated series premiered on Sunday, June 29 on AMC and AMC+, with new episodes premiering weekly on Sundays until the thrilling two-episode season finale on August 17.