Keith Morrison, correspondent on Dateline NBC, hosts a true-crime podcast called Murder in the Hollywood Hills, which premieres March 26. There will be six episodes, as Morrison “reveals an inside look at how a group of women brought down a smooth-talking predator turned killer who lured young women with promises of fame and fortune,” NBC said. 

The first two episodes will be available for free March 26. Subscribers to Dateline Premium can listen to the first two March 19 and will receive subsequent episodes early. 

Murder in the Hollywood Hills is Morrison’s 10th Dateline podcast. The others include The Thing About Pam, Mommy Doomsday, The Thing About Helen & Olga, Murder in Apartment 12 and The Girl in the Blue Mustang. 

Murder in the Hollywood Hills is produced by Tim Beacham. Adam Gorfain is co-executive producer. Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

Dateline is in season 32 on NBC. 

Paul Ryan has been named the executive producer of NBC newsmagazine Dateline. He had been senior producer and creative director of Dateline. The show, in season 32, is the longest-running series in NBC primetime history. 

Ryan joined NBC News in 2011. He is also the executive producer for NBCUniversal News Group’s annual Inspiring America special. Previously, he was the co-executive producer for the NBC series The Widower and Escape, and the senior producer for Dateline’s first original show for Peacock, The Last Day.  

Ryan began his television career in 1994 at Sports Illustrated Television, then moved to CBS News. He was senior broadcast producer at 48 Hours. 

Dateline is anchored by Lester Holt and features correspondents Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy. 

Elizabeth Cole was named senior executive producer at Dateline late last year. 

Dateline, which airs as a one-hour strip in syndication, has been renewed for an eighth season by the NBC Owned Television Stations, Sean O’Boyle, executive vice president of syndication sales, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, said Thursday.

The true-crime focused newsmagazine also airs on the Tegna, Fox Television Stations, Gray Television, Cox Media Group, Scripps, Nexstar Media Group, Hearst TV, Sinclair, Sunbeam TV, Graham Media Group, Weigel Broadcasting, Block Communications and Hubbard Broadcasting station groups.

“Dateline in syndication is a sustained and proven ratings success, consistently placing among the top-rated programs in daytime with remarkable continued growth, making it a perfect station offering for the new realities of our business,” O’Boyle said in a statement. “Dateline’s compelling storytelling and high-quality, recognizable brand, continues to appeal to local news viewers and is the perfect program to attract top-tier advertisers.”

“Dateline delivers compelling, best-in-class content in the ever-popular true crime genre,” Therese Gamba, chief marketing officer and executive VP of acquired programming, NBCUniversal Local, said, also in a statement. “We are delighted to extend our partnership and to continue to bring ‘Dateline’ to audiences across our markets.”

Averaging 1.9 million daily viewers, Dateline in syndication has grown its audience 19% compared to last year, and ranks second among one-hour syndicated strips, according to NBCU.

NBCUniversal first introduced a repackaged version of primetime news magazine Dateline to the syndication market in 2017. This fall, CBS followed suit with a syndicated version of 48 Hours. Repackaging long-standing libraries and offering them to TV stations on an all-barter basis is a growing trend in syndication as TV stations face shrinking margins and less cash to spend on acquired programming. 

The series is in its 32nd season on NBC. It is anchored by Lester Holt and features correspondents Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy. It also streams on Peacock’s Dateline 24/7 channel, which can also be seen on Roku, Samsung TV Plus, Tubi, Pluto TV, Freevee, Local Now, Xfinity, the Amazon Fire News App, TuneIn and Xumo. It also produces podcasts, including Murder in Apartment 12. David Corvo is senior executive producer and Liz Cole is executive producer. 

Morrison Mysteries, a podcast hosted by Keith Morrison, Dateline NBC correspondent, premieres Monday, October 23. The podcast sees Morrison delve into frightful works of fiction. It launches with three episodes, as Morrison reads from the Washington Irving classic The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

The first three episodes have the subtitles “A Teacher Comes to Town,” “Head Over Heels” and “A Ghostly Encounter,” and see Morrison offer perspective on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and read from the text. 

In Morrison Mysteries, the host takes listeners “on a captivating ride through some of the most suspenseful and chilling works of fiction you’ll ever hear,” Dateline NBC teases. “Get ready for haunting stories of ghosts, love triangles, jealousy and rage. Since it’s Halloween, we’re starting with Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Travel with us to a haunted town in New York, where some say the Headless Horseman rides to this day.”

Sleepy Hollow is set in Westchester County, a little north of New York City. An awkward schoolmaster, Ichabod Crane, turns up in town and pursues a young woman named Katrina. She turns down his proposal, and Crane soon encounters the Headless Horseman on his ride home from a harvest party. Crane is never seen again. 

Dateline NBC is in season 32. Lester Holt anchors and the correspondents include Morrison, Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz and Dennis Murphy. 

David Corvo is the senior executive producer on Dateline and Liz Cole is the executive producer.

Dateline, NBC’s one-hour news magazine, has been renewed for a seventh season in syndication on the NBC Owned Television Stations, Sean O’Boyle, executive president of syndication sales, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, said Thursday. 

Besides NBC, NBCU’s repackaged version of Dateline currently airs weekdays on stations from such broadcast groups as Tegna, Fox, Gray, Cox Media Group, Scripps, Nexstar, Hearst, Sinclair, Sunbeam, Graham Media, Weigel, Block, Hubbard and more.

Also: 'Dateline' to Return for Season Six in Syndication

“When we first launched Dateline in syndication six years ago, it was primarily scheduled as a utility program on various types of stations airing in a wide variety of time periods but this has evolved,” O’Boyle said in a statement. “Dateline is now a proven success in syndication and has become a key program airing in daytime on mostly traditional affiliated broadcast stations.”

“Dateline is best in class in the true-crime genre with riveting storytelling and high-quality production,” Therese Gamba, chief marketing officer and executive vice president of acquired programming, NBCUniversal Local, said, also in a statement. “Dateline is a natural fit with our NBC brand and has performed well with our daytime audiences.”

In the week ended January 15, Dateline in weekday syndication averaged 1.6 million daily viewers and a 1.2 live plus same day national household rating, according to Nielsen. 

In its 31st season, Dateline NBC is the longest-running primetime series in NBC’s history. The show is anchored by NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt and features correspondents Andrea Canning, Josh Mankiewicz, Keith Morrison and Dennis Murphy. Airing Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC, Dateline also airs on cable and streams on Peacock’s Dateline 24/7 channel.■ 

NBCUniversal said it is launching Dateline 24/7 a free, ad-supported streaming TV channel, on Samsung TV Plus, as part of an expanded deal with the TV set maker.

The deal also brings NBC News Now -- a live breaking news channel -- to users of Samsung TV Plus and other Samsung apps, in Canada.

“Samsung’s touchpoints across all devices are important destinations for viewers who rely on NBCUniversal brands as trusted places of information and entertainment,” said Matt Schnaars, president, NBCUniversal Content Distribution. “Samsung is a valued partner and plays a critical role in us ensuring our audiences have access to NBC News programming 24/7, wherever they are.”

Also: Roku Channel Expands NBCU News Lineup

NBC News NOW is currently available for Samsung TV Plus users free in the United States.

NBCUniversal’s One App, CNBC App, and NBC Sports App are also available on select Samsung devices.

“We are thrilled at the continued expansion of our partnership with NBCUniversal by bringing Dateline 24/7 to the US and NBC News Now to Canada,” said Takashi Nakano, senior director of content acquisitions and business development for Samsung TV Plus. “In complement to NBC Locals and NBC News Now, NBC continues to be the premier destination for trusted news and high-quality entertainment. Our partnership in delivering a geo-targeted and hyper-relevant experience is proving extremely valuable to Samsung users.”  ■

Dateline, a nationally syndicated version of NBC’s long-running newsmagazine, has been sold for a sixth season to TV stations covering more than 90% of the U.S., said Sean O’Boyle, executive vice president of syndication sales, NBCUniversal Syndication Studios on Wednesday.   

Dateline currently airs as a one-hour weekday strip on TV stations, and several NBC-owned television stations in the top markets recently picked up the show for next season. Dateline’s sixth-season syndication lineup includes WNBC New York, WMAQ Chicago, WCAU Philadelphia, KRON San Francisco, KXAS Dallas-Fort Worth, WRC-TV Washington DC, KPNX Phoenix, WTVJ Miami-Fort Lauderdale, KUSA Denver, KXTV Sacramento, KGW Portland, WRTV Indianapolis and WDRB Louisville. These stations and more represent such station groups as Tegna, Fox, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Hearst Television, Nexstar Media Group, Graham Media Group, Gray Television, Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps, Sunbeam, Weigel Television, Block Communications, Hubbard and more.

“Dateline continues to be best-in-class programming in the ever-popular ‘True Crime’ genre,“ O’Boyle said in a statement. “Its successful run in syndication started in 2017, when it entered the marketplace as a utility program. Now heading into its sixth season, Dateline has grown to be a top performer for local stations, which are increasingly airing it in important time periods on leading news stations.”

“We’re excited that this opportunity will allow fans and new viewers to watch Dateline on some of the top stations across the country. We’re grateful that these stations — new partners and some we’ve had a relationship with for years — are choosing to include Dateline as part of their successful programming,” said David Corvo, senior executive producer of Dateline, and Liz Cole, executive producer of Dateline and president of NBC News Studios. ■ 

The Thing About Pam, representing a unique symbiosis between NBC’s news and entertainment divisions, premieres on the network March 8. The series is based on the 2011 murder of Betsy Faria in Missouri. Her husband was convicted but a diabolical scheme involving Betsy’s friend Pam Hupp soon materialized. 

The case was examined in several episodes of Dateline NBC, which spawned a podcast, also called The Thing About Pam. 

Showrunner/executive producer Jenny Klein said the folks at Blumhouse Television brought the podcast to her attention. “They said, Jenny, this is the craziest story we’ve ever heard — we think you’d love it,” she said. “I did.”

Klein grew up in Illinois, in a place not all that different from Troy, Missouri, where Faria is killed. “It’s such a weird Midwest story that I was immediately drawn to it,” she said. 

Renée Zellweger plays Pam Hupp. She too became obsessed with the podcast, Klein said, and was eager to bring the project to screen. 

Klein called Zellweger “the hardest working, toughest person I’ve ever met,” and a deft enough actor to make Pam’s many quirks, including the Midwest accent and talking with her hands, feel authentic. “Renée got every detail down to a T,” Klein said, “in a way that brought Pam to life so accurately.”

Dateline anchor Keith Morrison hosts the podcast and is the narrator on the series. Klein called him “an omniscient, almost philosophical narrator.” 

The limited series has six episodes. The Thing About Pam was shot outside New Orleans, so August in Louisiana had to stand in for December in Missouri. “A truck was shooting snow onto the street as everyone was standing around, sweating through their tank tops,” Klein said. “It was environmentally incongruous.” ■

The Widower, a three-part true-crime miniseries from the producers of Dateline NBC, starts on NBC Thursday, Feb. 18. The twisting and turning series, about a man who has had four wives die under mysterious circumstances, represents the first time the network is airing a multi-night, true-crime series from Dateline. 

“It just seemed like an unusual show that probably deserved a different kind of treatment,” said Paul Ryan, co-executive producer. “It deserved multiple nights.”

Thomas Randolph, who is 66, is accused of murdering his sixth wife. Ryan called him “a strange and outrageous and unusual character.” 

The producers had extraordinary access to Randolph. The perp loved the attention, Ryan said, and was convinced he could persuade viewers of his innocence. “He has supreme confidence in his ability to evade the system, and to charm people — lawyers, judges, producers,” Ryan said. 

ALSO READ: True Crime Steals Viewers for Advertisers

The producers also got ample access to the law enforcement people chasing down the bad guy. 

“You’re literally there with the cops when they’re interviewing witnesses,” said Ryan. “You’re really putting the puzzle together with them.”

Dateline investigative producer Dan Slepian began documenting the murder investigation in 2008 while embedded with the Las Vegas Police Department. Ryan noted the work of Det. Dean O’Kelley, who appears in the miniseries. “He’s the most amazing, dogged, dedicated public servant you’d ever want to see,” said Ryan. “I was blown away by how much this guy cared and how far he was willing to go.”

Episode one on Feb. 18 is one hour. Episode two a day later is two hours, and the conclusion, on Sunday, Feb. 21, is two hours. It will also stream on Peacock, which has a dedicated Dateline 24/7 channel. 

Dateline NBC airs Fridays at 9 p.m. (ET). It at times goes to two hours, but a multi-night series from Dateline is uncharted territory. “Stories like this don’t come down the pike all that often,” said Ryan. 

If The Widower finds a large audience, he added, the producers are up for going multi-night on future stories that merit it. 

Thomas Randolph will draw a few viewers. “He’s such an intriguing and unusual guy,” said Ryan. 

Oxygen Media, expanding into the crime programming genre, said it has greenlit eight new series and acquired Dateline: Secrets Uncovered.

The new projects come from producers including BuzzFeed, Dick Wolf, Ice-T, Soledad O’Brien and Nancy Grace.

In connection with the network’s new focus, it unveiled a new yellow and black logo. Since becoming a crime destination for women, total day ratings are up 48% from a year ago among total viewers.

“This new slate has a great mix of high stakes real-time crime investigation and innovative formats that allows viewers to stay engaged from beginning to end with immersive storytelling,” said Rod Aissa, executive vice president of original programming and development at Oxygen Media, part of Comcast’s NBCUniversal. “It’s a real differentiator in our programming, and we’re thrilled to be working with some of the sharpest talent and producers in the genre.”

Read more, including descriptions of Oxygen's new series, at broadcastingcable.com.

Alisyn Camerota, the co-host of CNN's New Day morning program, has joined as a co-host the program honoring the 2015 class of Multichanel News Wonder Women. The luncheon event will be held on Thursday, March 19, at the New York Hilton.

For more about the 17th annual Wonder Women class, and about the event and its history, please see mcnwonderwomen.com. Earlier, Andrea Canning, correspondent for NBC's Dateline news magazine show, was announced as a co-host. More announcements about hosts and about the event will be coming soon. Twitter hashtag: #WW2015. The March 19 event is co-sponsored by the New York chapter of Women in Cable Telecommunications (WICT).

Here is more about Alisyn Camerota:

She is a CNN anchor and co-host on CNN’s morning show New Day with Chris Cuomo and Michaela Pereira.

Prior to joining CNN, Camerota served as co-host of America’s News Headquarters on Fox News Channel. Before that, she co-anchored Fox & Friends Weekend and contributed to the Fox & Friends weekday franchise, where she covered the gamut of hard news and human interest stories. Camerota was live on the air as the Iraq War began, the space shuttle Columbia exploded, and countless other breaking news events.

Prior to her role as anchor, she served as National Correspondent in the network’s Boston bureau, which included overseas assignments in London and Rome. Before joining Fox, Camerota was a correspondent and substitute host for NBC’s national daytime magazine show REALlife, traveling the country and telling stories of compelling people. She also served as a reporter at WHDH-TV, the NBC affiliate in Boston, and ABC6 in Providence, R.I. She spent five years as a crime reporter for the program America’s Most Wanted.

Camerota attended The American University on an academic scholarship and graduated cum laude. Her first job in news was helping to research and produce Ted Koppel's award-winning documentaries. Her work contributed to the receipt of a prestigious DuPont award. She is married and has three children.