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Why Was ‘To Catch a Predator’ Canceled? Looking Back at the Show’s Shutdown
The series ended after Bill Conradt's 2006 suicide during a Texas sting; a $109 million wrongful death lawsuit was settled and criticism of the show's tactics continues.
- In 2008, NBC canceled Dateline's To Catch a Predator after controversy widely linked to a high-profile sting involving Bill Conradt in Murphy, Texas.
- The series aired from 2004 to 2007 and used hidden cameras with adults impersonating teenagers in online chats on To Catch a Predator, part of NBC's Dateline.
- Bill Conradt, a Dallas–Fort Worth district attorney, exchanged pictures with a decoy posing as a 13-year-old and was among men lured to a Murphy house; police arrived with a warrant, and Conradt shot himself, later dying at a Dallas hospital.
- Conradt's sister filed a $109 wrongful‑death suit against NBC that was settled out of court, her lawyer said.
- The documentary Predators, streaming on Paramount+, has renewed attention to the series, and Walt Weiss, former Murphy Police Department detective, said the operation was done to 'do something for the show'.
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Why Was ‘To Catch a Predator’ Canceled? Looking Back at the Show’s Shutdown
Revisiting the show as the doc 'Predators' explores its problematic legacy.
·Cherokee County, United States
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources34
Leaning Left6Leaning Right1Center11Last UpdatedBias Distribution61% Center
Bias Distribution
- 61% of the sources are Center
61% Center
L 33%
C 61%
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