NBC News correspondent Blayne Alexander is returning from maternity leave this week for a full-time role on “Dateline,” the network’s long-running and seemingly ubiquitous true crime program.
After experiencing the joy of welcoming her second daughter, is she ready to be immersed in the world of yellow crime-scene tape and grieving relatives that come with her new assignment?
“It’s not like everything else in news has been rainbows and sunshine,” said Alexander in a telephone interview from her Atlanta home. “I think the beauty of walking into this is that we can give these stories the time and the depth they deserve.”
True crime has become a commodity as the number of streaming outlets and podcasts devoted to the genre have exploded over the last decade. But NBC’s “Dateline,” now in its 33rd season, has maintained its stature in a crowded field thanks to the personalities of its hosts.
The mellifluous tones of Keith Morrison or a skeptical raised eyebrow from Josh Mankiewicz provide a comforting familiarity to viewers as they enter a grisly portal into the worst and final day of someone’s life told over two hours.
Alexander’s arrival is the first change in the show’s lineup since Natalie Morales ended her brief stint in 2021. She joins one of the most stable correspondent lineups on television. Morrison, Mankiewicz and Dennis Murphy have been with “Dateline” since the mid-1990s, when it was a multitopic newsmagazine. Andrea Canning joined in 2012.
The move will be a major promotion for Alexander, 38, who has worked for NBC News since 2019, cranking out reports for its affiliate news service and the network. The veteran journalist and longtime “Dateline” fan earned the permanent slot after making two episodes, both of which were well-received by the show’s highly engaged audience on social media, according to NBC News Studios President Liz Cole.
Alexander, who has covered stories including presidential politics and hurricanes, is welcoming the change of pace.
“Typically in news, you get 10 minutes to talk to somebody,” Alexander said. “You don’t really get a chance to have long conversations with people. When we’re putting these stories together, you sit for interviews that span two or three hours and really form a relationship with a person sitting across from you.”
Alexander understood the intimate nature of the correspondent’s role on the program. Before her first episode aired in October 2023, she texted the victim’s family members to thank them for their cooperation.
“It’s not lost on us how much trust these families put in us to sit down and tell their story,” she said.
Being a correspondent for “Dateline” means Alexander’s work will be seen for years.
Keith Morrison, Andrea Canning, Lester Holt, Josh Mankiewicz and Dennis Murphy of NBC’s “Dateline.”
(Patrick Randak / NBC)
While “Dateline” is still a fixture of NBC’s prime-time lineup on Friday nights, the episodes have increased in value with the proliferation of streaming platforms. If someone is caught killing their spouse and ends up on “Dateline,” it will not be forgotten anytime soon.
During the 2023-24 TV season, viewers watched 137.6 billion minutes of “Dateline,” according to Nielsen data, the most of any true crime series and up 15% from a year earlier. Once an episode gets two airings on NBC, it heads to other platforms. Past seasons are available on NBCUniversal’s streaming platform Peacock. Repeats are shown daily on local TV stations and cable networks, sometimes totaling as many as 120 hours a week.
The stories are reconstituted for spinoffs — “Dateline: Unforgettable” and “Dateline: The Smoking Gun” — which air on NBCUniversal’s true crime network Oxygen.
In 2021, NBCUniversal launched its “Dateline 24/7” ad-supported streaming channel on Tubi, Pluto, Roku and other free sites where viewers can let the episodes wash over them one after the other.
Blayne Alexander conducts an interview for NBC’s “Dateline.”
(NBC News)
“Dateline” has become a hit in the podcast business, with audio versions of its episodes downloaded 300 million times in the last year, according to Simplecast. The program has produced a dozen original podcasts series and in May launched “Dateline: True Crime Weekly” with Canning as host.
Alexander is not a replacement for any of the current four veteran correspondents. All of them will be back this season.
“It’s more trying to be additive and lend a new perspective,” said “Dateline” executive producer Paul Ryan. “Sure we’re thinking about the future, but we want them here as long as they want to be here.”
Alexander was drawn to “Dateline” because of its journalistic rigor. Unlike many true crime programs, “Dateline” only uses the participants in the case: law enforcement officials, witnesses and family members and friends of victims. There are no reenactments or outside experts weighing in.
“This is news journalism, but storytelling really takes a front seat,” said Alexander, a native of Oklahoma City and a graduate of Duke University. “We’re taking viewers on a two-hour journey. That’s what makes them intriguing to watch.”
