Features
‘Dateline NBC’ and General Motors make peace after flaming truck incident
NEW YORK — A decade after “Dateline NBC” got in trouble for staging a collision to illustrate fire dangers in a General Motors truck, the newsmagazine and automaker have apparently made peace.
Rick Serviatis, president of the automaker’s in-house advertising firm, GM Media Works, was a guest Monday at a luncheon thrown by NBC to mark the newsmagazine’s 10th anniversary.
The survival of “Dateline NBC” was thrown into considerable doubt by the 1992 truck incident, which led to the resignation of an NBC News president and replacement of the newsmagazine’s management.
Instead, “Dateline NBC” recovered and has been a strong ratings performer. It now airs three times a week.
Not only did Serviatis attend the lunch, he was given a seat at a table between NBC Chairman Robert Wright and “Dateline NBC” anchor Jane Pauley.
Wright, in a speech, noted Serviatis’ presence, joking that “GM was such a part of the early promotional scheme.”
Serviatis declined to comment about the invitation, and a GM spokesman in Detroit did not immediately return a call.
