48 Hours (TV series)

For other uses, see 48 Hours.

48 Hours
Series title card
Format	Newsmagazine
Directed by	Rob Klug
Starring	Bill Lagattuta Erin Moriarty Harold Dow Maureen Maher Peter Van Sant Richard Schlesinger Susan Spencer Troy Roberts
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	26
Production
Executive producer(s)	Susan Zirinsky
Running time	42 minutes (excluding commercials)
Production company(s)	CBS News
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	480i (SDTV) 720p (HDTV) 1080i (HDTV)
Original run	January 19, 1988 (1988-01-19) – present

48 Hours is an American documentary television series that airs on CBS. The series has been broadcast on the network since January 19, 1988.

The series airs Saturday nights at 10 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific time)/9 p.m. (Central and Mountain time) as part of the network's placeholder Crimetime Saturday block; as such, the series is currently one of only two remaining first-run prime time programs (excluding sports) airing on Saturday nights on the four major U.S. broadcast television networks, along with Fox's COPS. The program sometimes airs two hour episodes or two episodes in a row on Saturday night depending on the subject involved or to counterprogram other networks.

Current correspondents

• Erin Moriarty
• Maureen Maher
• Peter Van Sant
• Richard Schlesinger
• Susan Spencer
• Troy Roberts

Format

Original format

The show drew its name, inspiration and original format from the September 1986 CBS News documentary titled 48 Hours on Crack Street, about the drug crisis plaguing a number of U.S. neighborhoods. The special attracted some 15 million viewers. Like the original documentary, the series originally focused on showing events occurring within a 48 hour span of time – hence the name. This format was eventually phased out by the early 1990s. One of the contributors to that program, CBS News Correspondent Harold Dow, had been a member of the 48 Hours air staff since its premiere. Dan Rather, at the time also hosting the CBS Evening News, was the primary host of 48 Hours for its first fourteen years on air.

In 1997, CBS aired a special episode of 48 Hours titled Property of 48 Hours, which focused on some of the stories over the past 9 years.

Current format

In its current format, formerly known as 48 Hours Mystery but now back its original title, the program mainly presents "true crime" documentaries.

Variations

48 Hours Investigates/Mystery

The program was revamped in 2002 when Lesley Stahl took over hosting duties from Dan Rather, and its name was changed to 48 Hours Investigates. The name was changed again to 48 Hours Mystery in 2004, and with its single-topic format, it does not use a single host but is narrated by the reporter assigned to the story. The current format of the documentary primarily deals with real life mysteries and crime stories, again with just one mystery per episode, owing to its single topic per show heritage.

The program is not confined to reporting mysteries; CBS often uses the 48 Hours title or timeslot to present special reports on events, such as a 2006 report on the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, or coverage of the Virginia Tech massacre in April 2007. However, the relationship between these special programs and the rest of the series is essentially limited to the program's title. The series also did a special report on the December 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

At the start of the 2011-12 television season, the program converted to 1080i high definition, making it the last American broadcast primetime newsmagazine to convert to the format; the only three shows on CBS to stay in standard definition are the overnight Up to the Minute, daytime game show Let's Make a Deal, and summer series Big Brother.

48 Hours: Live To Tell

48 Hours: Live To Tell uses a different format from the earlier versions of the series. There is no narrator. The stories are recounted by the victims of the crimes and/or people who are friends of the victims.

Awards and nominations

The program has received over 20 Emmy awards, two Peabody Awards, and an Ohio State Award.

Broadcasting

Syndicated repeats

Reruns of the series are regularly seen on the daytime and weekend schedules of Investigation Discovery, OWN, and TLC with varying titles based on subject matter like 48 Hours Hard Evidence, 48 Hours Investigates, 48 Hours on OWN, and 48 Hours on ID. ION Television aired repeats of 48 Hours on Sunday nights in the 2007-08 television season. Erin Moriarty hosted these episodes with updated graphics and wraps.

International broadcasts

Country	Channel	Time
Australia	Network Ten	Overnight Saturdays
Canada	CHCH/CHEK	Saturdays
Sweden	Kanal 9	weekly
Norway	TVNorge	weeknights
United Kingdom	CBS Reality	N/A

External links

• 48 Hours at CBSNews.com
• 48 Hours Mystery at the Internet Movie Database
• 48 Hours at TV.com
• 48 Hours on Google+

Preceded by Davis Rules 1991

48 Hours (TV series) Super Bowl lead-out program alongside 60 Minutes 1992

Succeeded by Homicide: Life on the Street 1993