True Crime TV This Week: Is Dateline, 20/20 or 48 Hours New? Night-by-Night Grid and Return Dates
Quick answer: For the week of Sept. 14–20, 2026, none of the three true crime newsmagazines has a confirmed new case. NBC lists an untitled Dateline hour on Friday, 20/20 is not scheduled, and 48 Hours loses Saturday to college football. The real season starts Friday, Sept. 25.
| Night (ET) | Dateline NBC | 20/20 | 48 Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon., Sept. 14 | — | — | — |
| Tue., Sept. 15 | — | — | — |
| Wed., Sept. 16 | — | — | — |
| Thu., Sept. 17 | — | — | — |
| Fri., Sept. 18 | Listed on NBC's Friday grid, no title announced | Not scheduled | — |
| Sat., Sept. 19 | — | — | Not on — CBS has football |
| Sun., Sept. 20 | — | — | — |
When do Dateline, 20/20 and 48 Hours come back?
| Show | Season premiere | Time (ET) | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dateline NBC (season 35) | Fri., Sept. 25 | 9 p.m. | NBC |
| 20/20 (season 49) | Fri., Sept. 25 | 9 p.m. | ABC |
| 48 Hours (season 39) | Sat., Oct. 10 | 10 p.m. | CBS |
Key takeaways
- The Sept. 18 Dateline hour has no title, correspondent or case attached yet, so we are not calling it a new case until NBC does. Day-by-day detail sits in our Sept. 14–20 breakdown.
- 48 Hours is between seasons, and CBS football takes Saturday nights until the Oct. 10 premiere.
- Sept. 25 is the date to remember: Dateline and 20/20 open new seasons head to head at 9 p.m.
Why did early grids show a new 20/20 on Sept. 18?
Two-week network grids published before the 9/11 anniversary had both Friday newsmagazines penciled in as new for Sept. 18. Since then, ABC has not published a Sept. 18 lineup that includes 20/20, and its fall announcement puts the premiere on Sept. 25. Until ABC lists it, the table above says not scheduled.
What aired the week of Sept. 7?
Only Dateline, and it was not a murder case. NBC ran Facing Ground Zero, a new 9/11 25th-anniversary hour anchored by Lester Holt, at 10 p.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 11, after an NFL Kickoff Spotlight special at 9.
The through-line was a simple one. NBC cameras filmed New Yorkers on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001; the special went back to those same people a quarter century later and asked what the day did to their lives.
Why wasn't 20/20 on Sept. 11?
ABC gave the whole night to the anniversary. At 8 p.m. the network carried "9/11 Tribute in Light: Live From Lower Manhattan," a live broadcast from Ground Zero produced with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, with Linsey Davis, Sade Baderinwa and Mike Marza. At 9 p.m. came an encore of "9/11: United We Stand — 25 Years Later," the Michael Strahan special that first aired Sept. 1 and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.
The show was not cancelled. Our recap of the Sept. 4 Lindsay Clancy special covers the most recent new hour 20/20 produced.
Where did 48 Hours go on Saturdays?
College football took the night. CBS had games at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 12, and the late game runs straight through the 10 p.m. hour; the same doubleheader pattern repeats on Sept. 19.
Saturday football is why the show has been scarce since midsummer, and it is why CBS is holding new episodes until October. The two encores in our Sept. 5 preview were the last 48 Hours airing of any kind for a while.
Was there any other true crime on Sept. 11?
CBS had the closest thing to it. At 9 p.m. the network ran "Daughters of 9/11," a two-hour special following Elizabeth Miller and Jessica Trant, both daughters of victims, and FBI special agent Frank Pellegrino as they press the question of whether Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will ever be tried. It streams on Paramount+.
What is different about the new seasons?
Dateline's 35th season premieres Friday, Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET, and Lester Holt has said the year leans harder on two-hour episodes. 20/20 opens season 49 the same night, also at 9, running two hours behind Celebrity Wheel of Fortune.
48 Hours is the long wait. Season 39 starts Saturday, Oct. 10 at 10 p.m. ET.
👉 If you only remember one date from this page, make it Sept. 25 — that is the night the Friday rivalry restarts.
How do I stream each one?
Dateline lands on Peacock the day after it airs, 20/20 goes to Hulu, and 48 Hours goes to Paramount+. We keep the full breakdown of channels, time zones and back catalogs in the viewing guide.
FAQ
Is Dateline new tonight? Not Monday through Thursday this week. The only Dateline hour listed is Friday, Sept. 18, and NBC has not given it a title; the season 35 premiere is Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. ET.
What case is on 48 Hours this Saturday? None — CBS is airing college football on Sept. 19, and the next new episode is Oct. 10.
Is 20/20 on this Friday? No. ABC has not scheduled it for Sept. 18; season 49 begins Sept. 25.
While the shows are off
Four cases we are following have dates on the calendar: the Delphi appeal argued Sept. 21, the Kouri Richins fraud trial on Oct. 9, the Lori Vallow Daybell appeal set for Nov. 2 and the Mangione state hearing on Dec. 10, after the trial that was to start the week of Sept. 7 was halted. Two 20/20 cases also moved in early September: the parole board advanced the Menendez hearing to March 2027, and a judge moved Alex Murdaugh's retrial to Sumter County on Sept. 8, with jury selection set for April 5, 2027. Further out, Bryan Kohberger's bid to withdraw his guilty plea now has a June 2027 hearing date. Everything else sits in Case Updates, and the show archives are at Dateline and 48 Hours.
Sources
- TV Insider — how the networks are marking the 25th anniversary of 9/11
- Variety — NBC News 9/11 coverage includes a special Dateline
- NBC Insider — Dateline season 35 premiere date and format
- TV Guide — ABC's fall 2026 schedule and 20/20 premiere
- NBC primetime schedule listings for Sept. 9–29, 2026 (from NBC's press listings)
- ABC — Fall 2026 premiere dates and primetime schedule
- CBS News — 48 Hours episode schedule
- CBS Sports 2026 college football television schedule
- Earlier grids for Sept. 11 and 12 checked against TV Insider's NBC, ABC and CBS two-week schedules. Listings data via TVmaze.
Recently on the case desk: a Colorado judge raised Barry Morphew's bond to $10 million and confined him to his home, and we caught up with where Rex Heuermann is being held since his June sentencing.