Dateline: Sunday Ratings for the 2011-12 TV Season

Here are the Sunday ratings for Dateline. The venerable news series has returned to Sunday evenings to duke it out with 60 Minutes. In addition to the Friday installments, episodes of the 20th season of Dateline air Sunday nights at 7pm on the NBC network.

Here are the TV show’s ratings for the 2011-12 season, the best way to tell if Dateline will be cancelled or renewed for a 21st season. Check out our NBC ratings report card to see how this show’s numbers compare with the others on the network.

These figures will be updated as the weeks progress so be sure to bookmark and return to this page:

Sunday, 05/13/12
0.7 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 3.39 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.04 in the demo with 4.87 million.
Demo average rank: #11 of 14 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 05/06/12
0.7 in the demo (-13% episode-to-episode change) with 3.17 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.07 in the demo with 4.99 million.
Demo average rank: #10 of 14 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 04/29/12
0.8 in the demo (-33% episode-to-episode change) with 3.40 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.10 in the demo with 5.16 million.
Demo average rank: #11 of 14 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 04/22/12
1.2 in the demo (-8% episode-to-episode change) with 4.20 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.13 in the demo with 5.33 million.
Demo average rank: #11 of 14 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 04/15/12
1.3 in the demo (+30% episode-to-episode change) with 4.82 million; third in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.12 in the demo with 5.46 million.
Demo average rank: #11 of 14 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 04/08/12
1.0 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 5.06 million; tied for second in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.10 in the demo with 5.54 million.
Demo average rank: tied for #11 of 13 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 04/01/12
1.0 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 4.65 million; third in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.11 in the demo with 5.60 million.
Demo average rank: #11 of 13 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 03/25/12
1.0 in the demo (-9% episode-to-episode change) with 5.68 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.13 in the demo with 5.76 million.
Demo average rank: #12 of 13 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 03/18/12
1.1 in the demo (+22% episode-to-episode change) with 6.09 million; third in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.16 in the demo with 5.78 million.
Demo average rank: #12 of 13 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 03/11/12
0.9 in the demo (-10% episode-to-episode change) with 4.67 million; fourth in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.18 in the demo with 5.70 million.
Demo average rank: tied for #9 of 12 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 03/04/12
1.0 in the demo (-38% episode-to-episode change) with 5.12 million; third in the timeslot.
Season average: 1.27 in the demo with 6.05 million.
Demo average rank: #10 of 12 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 02/12/12 (two hours)
1.6 in the demo (+33% episode-to-episode change) with 6.79 million; third place at 7pm, fourth at 8pm.
Season average: 1.40 in the demo with 6.51 million.
Demo average rank: #8 of 11 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

Sunday, 1/8/12 (two hours)
1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.23 million total viewers; third in the timeslot at 7pm, fourth at 8pm.
Season average: 1.20 in the demo with 6.23 million.
Demo average rank: #7 of 8 non-scripted TV shows on the network (Fall 2011 – Spring 2012).

The debut numbers are certainly nothing to be proud of but, compared to last year’s Sunday premiere, NBC was up by 9% in the demo and 13% in total viewership. The show is obviously cheap to produce but the difference in ratings between CBS’ 60 Minutes and Sunday’s Dateline is staggering.

Reference point: The Sunday episodes of the 2010-11 season averaged a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 4.9 million viewers.

Note: These ratings are collected by the Nielsen company and are the final national numbers. These are different from the fast affiliate numbers which are just estimates of the actual ratings and are reported on by most other outlets. The final nationals are typically released within 24 hours of the programming or, in the case of weekends and holidays, a couple days later.

What do you think? Do you like the Dateline TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or be renewed for a 21st season?

Image courtesy NBC.

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