‘Dateline NBC’ Wants a Piece of ’60 Minutes’

“Dateline NBC” will take on venerable “60 Minutes” in March in what is being called the first head-to-head battle between two major network newsmagazines.

Andy Lack, president of NBC News, announced Tuesday that “Dateline,” anchored by Jane Pauley and Stone Phillips, will premiere a fourth weekly edition on March 17 at 7 p.m.--the time slot that “60 Minutes” has dominated for 20 years.

Addressing a Pasadena gathering of TV critics from around the nation, Lack said he was “very pleased if not excited, though I am nervous about the challenge involved.”

Despite a slide in ratings this season, due at least in part to the absence of the traditional lead-in of professional football, “60 Minutes” remains a respected and popular program. Lack, a former producer for the CBS newsmagazine, said he had no illusions about who would prevail.

“From a ratings perspective, it’s an odious comparison,” he said. “ ’60 Minutes’ is ’60 Minutes,’ and they’re going to win that battle. ‘Dateline’ will probably come in third in that time period, but we think we can help the schedule there and improve NBC’s performance in that time slot.”

That’s what network executives will be evaluating this spring before deciding whether to keep “Dateline” there next season. “This one won’t break us if we go on” and don’t do well, anchor Phillips said. “We’re already successful three nights of the week, so there isn’t as much pressure.”

NBC, ABC and Fox for years have been unable to launch a serious challenge to “60 Minutes” in the 7-8 p.m. Sunday slot. NBC this season scheduled two youth-oriented comedies, “Brotherly Love” and “Minor Adjustments,” but both were taken off after suffering poor ratings.

(“Brotherly Love” will return to the NBC schedule on March 4, but on Mondays, while “Minor Adjustments,” which was canceled by NBC, will begin a new life on UPN Tuesday.)

Lack said that the new “Dateline,” which currently airs Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, will strengthen the network’s news profile. With four editions a week, he noted, “we will be providing stories and will have a muscle in the marketplace that no one else has.”

Lack also said that while “60 Minutes” traditionally has relied on stories without a specific time element, “Dateline” will strive to be more topical. “We will thrive on figuring out what the Sunday program will be on Friday,” he said.

CBS, perhaps anticipating the “Dateline” challenge, said recently that “60 Minutes” executive producer Don Hewitt is making some changes that will allow more flexibility with regard to breaking news. The program also plans to eliminate reruns during the summer.

“We will not waver in our commitment to quality--a commitment that has made ’60 Minutes’ the most important and successful program in TV history,” CBS News President Andrew Heyward said Tuesday.

When one reporter in Pasadena suggested that “60 Minutes” considered itself a stronger newsmagazine than “Dateline” and that “Dateline” could not possibly challenge it, Phillips said, “If they aren’t worried about us, then why are they busting out their summer vacations?”

Lack contended that “Dateline” in the last three years has grown tremendously in quality and relevance, rebounding from the turmoil of 1993, when it was disclosed that producers had rigged a crash for a report on truck safety.

He also said that the news division has been planning the expansion for some time and had been steadily adding producers and correspondents in order to fill the four broadcasts. Joining the staff this week is John Hockenberry, who most recently was a correspondent for the late ABC newsmagazine “Day One.”