NBC News to Air Unseen 9/11 Footage in 25th Anniversary Coverage Across Every Platform
NBC News will mark the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with never-before-seen footage from its 2001 coverage, aired as part of a 'Dateline' documentary presented by anchor Lester Holt.
The documentary revisits New Yorkers whose experiences on the day of the attacks were captured by NBC News cameras — a quarter century later, the network is surfacing material that has not been broadcast before. The special is part of anniversary coverage spanning nearly every NBC News programme and platform, according to Variety.
Coverage begins at 7 a.m. Eastern on September 11 with a 'Today' telecast anchored by Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin. Guthrie will report from Ground Zero and, at 8:30 a.m., anchor a special report as the nation observes moments of silence. Tom Llamas will anchor special editions of 'NBC Nightly News' and 'Top Story' from the same site.
The programming extends well beyond the broadcast network. NBC News Now, the network's free streaming channel, will carry the anniversary coverage live. At 10:30 p.m. on Friday, it will stream 'NBC Nightly News Presents: Great Americans: Service and Sacrifice,' featuring stories of Americans who responded to the call after the attacks. A 'Great Americans' interview with Joseph Pfeifer, the first FDNY chief to arrive at the World Trade Center, is also scheduled.
NBC's coverage reaches into audio and investigative reporting. A special edition of the 'Here's the Scoop' podcast will feature interviews with guests who were children on 9/11, exploring their perspectives now that they are parents themselves. Host Yasmin Vossoughian will speak with a representative from the 9/11 Memorial & Museum about how to talk to children about that day. 'NBC Nightly News' will air a 'Cost of Denial' investigation examining the ongoing health consequences for those exposed to the attacks.
NBC is not alone in planning anniversary programming. CBS will present special morning and primetime coverage, with Kristine Johnson and Jessica Moore anchoring a one-hour special from the 9/11 Memorial on Thursday, September 10, as Variety reported. NewsNation will carry its own commemorative coverage anchored by Chris Cuomo and Connell McShane, announced September 2 by parent company Nexstar.
President Donald Trump will mark the anniversary at the Pentagon rather than at Ground Zero in New York, according to NBC News.
The scale of the network plans — morning-to-night across television, streaming, podcast and investigative formats — reflects how 9/11 anniversaries have become fixed points in the broadcast calendar. Twenty-five years on, the story still commands the full machinery of a news division.
