"DATELINE" RETURNING FOR ITS FIFTH SEASON IN NATIONAL SYNDICATION
NBCUniversal Bringing "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" Back to Local Broadcast Stations in Fall 2021
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - Dec. 2, 2020 - NBCUniversal has sold "Dateline" in more than 75% of the country for its fifth season in national syndication. In addition, the Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" will air on local stations, five days a week in broadcast syndication beginning fall 2021.
Both announcements were made by Sean O'Boyle, Executive Vice President of Syndication Sales, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios.
The syndicated version of "Dateline" currently airs weekdays on stations from leading broadcast groups, including FOX, Sinclair, Hearst, Nexstar, Graham Media, Gray, COX Media Group, Tegna, Scripps, Sunbeam, Weigel, Block, Hubbard and more. "Law & Order: SVU" has already been sold in 60% of the country to station groups that include FOX, Gray, Sinclair, Nexstar, Scripps, Hearst, Weigel, Quincy, Lockwood, Graham Media, Mission, Hubbard and Meredith.
"Both 'Dateline' and 'SVU' are time-tested, fan-favorite quality programs with a foundation in compelling storytelling that continues to generate pop culture buzz," O'Boyle said. "'We're excited to offer our broadcast station partners these gold-standard premiere brands in both scripted and unscripted crime genre programming."
"Dateline" continues to be the benchmark in true-crime shows as it was watched by more than 133 million unique viewers in 2019. Currently in its fourth season in broadcast syndication, "Dateline" remains a dominant and competitive performer with steady ratings growth. "Dateline" continues to deliver for its local stations having grown 7% in households from 2019-20 to the 2020-21 season, one of only three syndicated programs to show year-to-year growth. "Dateline" Monday-Friday is one of the few syndicated shows to grow from its first to fourth quarter-hour while "Dateline" weekly is also the #5 syndicated program for the 2020-21 season.
"Law & Order: SVU" is currently in its 22nd season on NBC and is the longest-running drama in primetime history. "SVU" is currently airing on off-net cable, saw 110 million unique viewers in 2019, is the second most watched weekly program in syndication for the 2020-21 season behind "Dateline" and is up 31% in total viewers versus its performance in 2019-20.
ABOUT "DATELINE NBC"
"Dateline NBC" is the longest-running series in NBC primetime history and is in its 29th season. "Dateline" is anchored by Lester Holt and features correspondents Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Natalie Morales, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy. Airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT and Thursdays at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. CT, "Dateline"is the #1 Friday newsmagazine and reaches more than 17 million people every week through its broadcast, and millions more through its social media platforms and podcasts. Additionally, "Dateline"closed out 2019-20 broadcast season as the #1 Friday newsmagazine across the board. David Corvo is the senior executive producer, and Liz Cole is the executive producer.
ABOUT "LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT"
The hard-hitting and emotional series from NBC's "Law & Order" brand chronicles the lives of the Special Victims Unit of the New York City Police Department, an elite squad of detectives who investigate crimes of sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment. Dick Wolf is creator and executive producer. Warren Leight, Julie Martin, Mariska Hargitay, Norberto Barba, Arthur Forney and Peter Jankowski are executive producers. "Law & Order: Special Victim's Unit" is now streaming on Peacock.
ABOUT NBCUNIVERSAL SYNDICATION STUDIOS
NBCUniversal Syndication Studios is responsible for the production, sales and distribution of NBCUniversal products to broadcast television within the United States. The division develops and produces first-run programming and distributes these shows, along with off-network content, in broadcast syndication. Current first-run broadcast syndicated programming includes "Access Hollywood," "Access Daily," "All Access," "The Kelly Clarkson Show," "Judge Jerry," "The Jerry Springer Show," "Maury" and "The Steve Wilkos Show." In addition, the division distributes the retro television broadcast network Cozi TV and the weekend syndicated series "Open House." Current off-network programming includes "American Ninja Warrior," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Chicago Fire," "Chicago P.D," "Monk" and "Dateline."
|