Here are the Summer 2012 ratings for the Friday edition of Dateline. Lester Holt is the principal anchor of this venerable newsmagazine. Dateline typically airs on Friday nights on the NBC network.

These are the TV show’s ratings for the Summer 2012 season, the best way to tell if Dateline will be cancelled or renewed, though it’s already been confirmed that it will be back in the fall.

Check out our NBC summer 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:

Final summer averages: 1.1 demo rating with 4.49 million viewers.

Friday, 09/21/12
1.0 in the demo (+11% episode-to-episode change) with 4.28 million.
Season averages: 1.06 in the demo with 4.49 million.

Friday, 09/14/12
0.9 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 3.85 million.
Season averages: 1.07 in the demo with 4.50 million.

Friday, 09/07/12
0.9 in the demo (+13% episode-to-episode change) with 3.79 million.
Season averages: 1.08 in the demo with 4.56 million.

Friday, 08/31/12
0.8 in the demo (-11% episode-to-episode change) with 3.76 million.
Season averages: 1.10 in the demo with 4.64 million.

Friday, 08/24/12
0.9 in the demo (-10% episode-to-episode change) with 3.73 million.
Season averages: 1.13 in the demo with 4.74 million.

Friday, 08/17/12
1.0 in the demo (-17% episode-to-episode change) with 4.63 million.
Season averages: 1.16 in the demo with 4.86 million.

Friday, 07/20/12
1.2 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 4.64 million.
Season averages: 1.19 in the demo with 4.90 million.

Friday, 07/13/12
1.2 in the demo (+20% episode-to-episode change) with 4.52 million.
Season averages: 1.18 in the demo with 4.94 million.

Friday, 07/06/12
1.0 in the demo (-17% episode-to-episode change) with 4.04 million.
Season averages: 1.18 in the demo with 5.16 million.

Friday, 06/22/12
1.2 in the demo (+9% episode-to-episode change) with 5.29 million.
Season average: 1.23 in the demo with 5.27 million.

Friday, 06/15/12
1.1 in the demo (0% episode-to-episode change) with 4.65 million.
Season average: 1.23 in the demo with 5.26 million.

Friday, 06/08/12
1.1 in the demo (-27% episode-to-episode change) with 5.08 million.
Season average: 1.30 in the demo with 5.57 million.

Friday, 06/01/12
1.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 6.06 million total viewers.
Season average: 1.50 in the demo with 6.06 million.

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? How do you think it compares to the other newsmagazines?