Chris Hansen

Hansen's notable work for Dateline includes coverage of the Columbine High School massacre, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Unabomber and the TWA Flight 800 disaster, and investigative reports on Indian child slave labor and counterfeit prescription drug sales in China. Hansen was responsible for most of Dateline's coverage of the September 11 attacks, as well as stories on terrorist groups and the operations of Al-Qaeda. He also exposed how a group linked to Osama Bin Laden had tried to buy missiles and nuclear weapons components, and he also worked on an exclusive report on the Air France Flight 8969 hijacking. His series on the lack of security at airports resulted in the Federal Aviation Administration opening an investigation and ultimately revising its policies.[6]

In conjunction with the website Perverted-Justice, Hansen hosted a series of Dateline NBC reports under the title To Catch a Predator. Volunteers from Perverted-Justice impersonated underage people (usually 13–15) in chat rooms online and agreed to meet with adults for sex.[7][8] The meeting places were "sting houses", where camera crews from NBC, and in later episodes local police, awaited the potential sexual predator.[9]

Capitalizing on the success of Hansen and his Predator investigations, Dateline NBC created three Tuesday night spin-offs of its original concept; Hansen hosted To Catch a Con Man and To Catch an I.D. Thief.[6] In March 2007, Hansen's book, To Catch a Predator: Protecting Your Kids from Online Enemies Already in Your Home, was released in the American market.[10]

In February 2015, Hansen announced that he would be the host of a new show on Investigation Discovery to be titled Killer Instinct that chronicled homicide cases. The show's initial 10-episode season premiered on August 17, 2015.[11]

Hansen has appeared on such television programs as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Adam Carolla Show, Today, Scarborough Country, The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Rise Guys Morning Show, The Don and Mike Show, The Opie and Anthony Radio Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Glenn Beck Program, and Diggnation.

On January 9, 2007, Hansen appeared on the BET news series American Gangster. The special, which was hosted by actor Ving Rhames, focused on Detroit drug lords, the Chambers Brothers gang. Hansen gave insight into the lives of the brothers based on the reporting he had done on them in the 1980s and 1990s as a reporter for ABC affiliate WXYZ (Channel 7) and NBC affiliate WDIV (Channel 4).

In 2015, Hansen announced plans to release a new independent television show called Hansen vs. Predator, a spin-off of his original show To Catch a Predator. The program was intended to premiere online, crowdfunded via Kickstarter.[12] However, Hansen was unable to reach his $400,000 goal, only raising $89,000 by September 2016.[13] Hansen offered promotional memorabilia as part of the campaign that donors claimed to have never received, and he was arrested in January 2019 for paying for $13,000 worth of promotional items with a bad check.[14] After Hansen was unable to reach his Kickstarter goal broadcast rights were sold, with Hansen vs. Predator becoming a recurring segment on Crime Watch Daily.[15]

On August 22, 2016, it was announced that Hansen would become the new host of the syndicated news program Crime Watch Daily beginning with its second-season premiere on September 12.[16] Hansen anchors the program from New York City, but it will maintain its Los Angeles-based newsroom. The second season also saw the premiere of Hansen vs. Predator, a revival of his previous To Catch a Predator series. Hansen's entry brought further ratings gains to the program, with household ratings increasing by 20% to 1.0, and a 23% gain among women 18–34. On January 4, 2017, Crime Watch Daily was renewed for a third season.[17][16] The show ended its run in June 2018.[18]Chris Hansen debuted the first episode of Hansen vs Predator on Monday, September 12, 2016, on Crime Watch Daily.[3]

On October 9, 2019, Hansen started a YouTube channel under the name Have a Seat with Chris Hansen, featuring weekly podcasts tackling different topics and interviews with special guests.[19] In 2019, this channel investigated claims of pedophilia and grooming against YouTube creator James Jackson, commonly known as Onision.[20] In January 2020, Hansen visited Jackson's home in an attempt to interview him. Jackson called the police on Hansen, though the police did not take action against him.[21] Jackson also filed a lawsuit against Hansen, which took place on January 24, 2020.[22][23] Jackson later requested to dismiss the charges, claiming that he was advised to consider an "alternative, more effective legal action".[24] This dismissal request was granted.[25][26]