20170922

DATELINE NBC

With hosts Jane Pauley and Stone Phillips, 'Dateline' first went on air in March 1992, normally at 10pm (9pm in the middle of the country). The show was broadcast from NBC Studio 3B in Rockefeller Center, New York. It was the network's 18th attempt at developing a sustainable newsmagazine and as it turned out, became NBC News' most profitable show after 'Today' attracting between 10 million and 15 million viewers each episode. Neal Shapiro told 'Associated Press' in 2002, "'Dateline' can show up at any time slot, promoted or un-promoted, and it gets viewers." 

Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, told 'Associated Press', "It's so fluid. It can go from these stories that are really goofy ... to good, solid investigative journalism. It's almost as if 'Dateline' is the perpetual Trojan Horse. It keeps using its legitimacy as a newsmagazine to sneak in cheesy stories and at the same time, it uses its entertainment-oriented cheesiness to sneak in serious stories." 

Speaking to 'The Los Angeles Times', Neal Shapiro made the point, "We do a whole thing entitled 'Family Focus,' where we do things about how to raise kids, how to discipline kids, how to make kids eat. '60 Minutes' doesn't do those. We do consumer reporting. So does '20/20.' That's not what '60 Minutes' likes to do." As noted, 'Dateline NBC' could apply the "traditional newsmagazine format of 4 or 5 stories in an hour, and do 2-hour news 'movies' (or single-topic shows). 

"That contrasts with '60 Minutes', which usually follows a strict format governed by the ticking stopwatch. ABC's newsmagazines ('20/20' and 'Prime Time Live'), in general, are more aggressive in going after the big 'gets', or newsmaking interviews. More than its rivals, 'Dateline' embraces narrative techniques such as cliffhanger endings or leaving viewers in suspense heading into a commercial break." 

Steve Friedman elaborated, "They tell stories in a very compelling way, a very network prime-time way. They keep you at the edge of your chair, you don't know which way it's going. There's all these peaks and valleys." Neal Shapiro added, "I make no apology for using the best storytelling techniques to tell the best stories. As long as you're true to the stories and not misleading people, I don't have a problem with it." 

Around 1998, NBC expanded 'Dateline' to 5 nights a week. 'Time' magazine learnt, "Another important lesson that 'Dateline' has imparted is that a single brand name can be an efficient way of building a franchise." Don Hewitt begged to differ, "We think it's a terrible idea (following 'Dateline' by expanding '60 Minutes' to 2 editions). If NBC found 5 more Seinfelds, there would be 2 or 3 fewer Datelines on the air. That's not news. That's filler."

Jane Pauley countered, "Fast-forward 25 years, a few Saturdays ago (in 1973), in the context of another presidential crisis (Watergate), when NBC blew up the schedule and did a 2-hour special report. It's just hard for me to see why this (expansion) isn't progress. Unless I misunderstand Don, he is literally saying the only reason we are doing 5 nights at 'Dateline' is because of a failure of imagination on the entertainment side. And I'm thinking: 'So, isn't it nonetheless a better development from when the only news in prime time were those silly 30-second updates?' There may be plenty wrong with this business, but I'm not sure that's the significant issue." 

Stone Phillips offered, "My early sense is that this will be difficult. The stakes are up. Being on 5 nights a week is going to help us from the standpoint that we like to be the newsiest magazine. But again, you look at a Monica Lewinsky story and there are questions of proportion. I still think that magazine shows make their name and hold their audience with pieces that are in a sense evergreens. News is great, but it's the (longer stories) that make the show.

"Clearly, though, the point will come as an operation when it will become more and more unwieldy. What concerns me is that all of the checks and balances be strong, be thorough and be in place. It is a very tight shop now in that way, but the question becomes: How much can you funnel through that narrow space to make sure that the editorial process is as tight as it needs to be? We are all a mistake away from taking a major hit (referring to the first season scandal over the show staging of a collision to demonstrate fire dangers in a General Motors truck)."

Adam Gorfain maintained, "I don't think it's a lot. The fuel mixes according to what the engine needs. Some stories take a long time to do, others go quickly. I think we pride ourselves on our amoeba-like way of encircling whatever needs to be reported on at the moment." Of the Sunday night edition, Andy Lack argued, "'60 Minutes', of course, has been in the time period for 20 years (since 1968). It's a terrific show. One of my favorites. They're going to win that battle.

"They're going to win the ratings wars (with household ratings). In fact, I think it's fair to say ... 'Dateline' will probably come in 3rd in the time slot. We'll carve out our audience. You must remember that it wasn't very long ago … that most people didn't think there was room on network television for more than 3 magazines. Now there are comfortably 8 (the 1990s was a boom decade in prime-time news). The reason 'Dateline' is going into the time period is we think we can help NBC's schedule there. So the issue of success for us is improvement for NBC (with the 18 to 49 demographics). I think '60 Minutes', traditionally, draws a very much older audience than 'Dateline'."

Neal Shapiro stated, "'Dateline' won more Emmys last year (in 1995) than any other news magazine. And I think if you check ... you will find, more often than not, in the hallways of other news divisions, you will hear things like, 'Why can't we do blank like 'Dateline' does?" Neal Shapiro also told 'Time' magazine in 2001, "The rule used to be that when there was a big, breaking news story, if you didn't see it on the evening news, the next place to catch it was your local news, and then maybe 'Nightline'. We said, 'No. If it's a great story, we'll have it that night.'" Andrew Heyward insisted, "I see prime-time news as a supplement to the evening-news program, not a substitute."

Neal Shapiro told 'The Los Angeles Times', "At 'Dateline,' we have never said there is not enough news. I sit here today (in 1998) and I have 40 stories in our bank that I would like to get on. I think our view of news is not just what you would see on the front page, it is what you would see in all parts of the paper. Stories can be compelling if they are a front-page breaking news story or an interesting profile you might see in the middle of the paper or a how-to-raise-your-children spot that you may see in the family pages or a quirky story you might see in the lifestyle section ... I think our definition of what is news is just broader."

Stone Phillips reminded, "I think the crusading journalism which marked the early days of magazine work - whether it was Mike Wallace at '60 Minutes' or Geraldo Rivera at '20/20' - really set them up as the investigative aces who were out there uncovering important stuff and righting wrongs. I think you will see less of that, generally, at 'Dateline'. The approach over here is to emphasize balance. I think the great story is the gray story. Usually, when I see something that is pretty clear-cut on television - black hats here and white hats there - I usually wonder what I didn't hear."

TV news was said to be "so expensive and labor-intensive, you often have to pre-crash-test stories". Adam Gorfain told 'The Los Angeles Times', "We do a lot of pre-production. We test what might go wrong before we even get started on a story (for example, sufficient visual elements for a TV story). Hopefully, if it's going to go bust, it will do so before it gets started. I think I'm paid as much to knock down stories as to approve them."

In 2002, there were 80 news producers and 12 correspondents working on 'Dateline NBC'. In 1998, it was reported 'Dateline' had 20 part-or-full-time correspondents and 96 news producers. At the time, 'The Los Angeles Times' informed readers, "The range at network newsmagazines for producers is approximately $80,000 to $120,000 a year, with correspondents often making several times more than that. But they are often termed 'news nuns', their lives consumed by regularly working 60-and-70-hour weeks. The great bulk of 'Dateline' staff is in its late 20s or 30s, having graduated from top colleges." 

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