CBS 48 Hours continues crime-and-justice investigations with new 2026 episodes

CBS’s long-running true-crime newsmagazine “48 Hours” is continuing its crime-and-justice reporting with new Season 38 episodes in 2026, anchored by a Saturday night broadcast slot that has held steady for years: 10 p.m. ET/PT (10/9c) on CBS.

The network’s episode guide shows the season extending into April, including “The Root Beer Float Murder,” listed as Season 38, Episode 34, which aired April 4, 2026, with correspondent Peter Van Sant reporting. The show’s enduring tagline, “True crime. Real justice. To miss it would be a crime.” has become shorthand for its approach: documentary storytelling that leans on reporting, interviews and case records to track investigations, trials and unresolved questions.

That format has made “48 Hours” a staple of true-crime television for decades. The program has aired on CBS since January 19, 1988, and CBS and Paramount+ describe it as an impact-driven franchise that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people and prompted cold cases to be reopened and solved. Those claims matter beyond entertainment. Wrongful convictions and stalled investigations can reverberate for years through families and neighborhoods, compounding grief, financial instability and distrust in institutions that are supposed to keep people safe.

CBS News lists Executive Producer Judy Tygard among the show’s top leaders, with a correspondent lineup that includes Erin Moriarty, Peter Van Sant, Natalie Morales, Anne-Marie Green, Tracy Smith and Jim Axelrod. The current team carries forward a legacy associated with earlier eras of the franchise, including Dan Rather, while keeping the series rooted in the day-to-day realities of the criminal legal system.

For viewers trying to keep up with new episodes and past reporting, CBS News promotes multiple ways to watch live, on demand and through streaming. The primary option remains the Saturday 10 p.m. broadcast on CBS, with DVR viewing also part of the plan for audiences who cannot watch live. Beyond that, episodes are available via Paramount+, and CBS News also points viewers to a free, advertiser-supported “48 Hours” FAST channel that streams 24/7 on the CBS News website, Pluto TV, Paramount+, and Paramount partner channels. CBS News also maintains an episode schedule page that lists the latest airings.

The persistence of “48 Hours,” now in its 38th season, is also a national signal about audience demand. As true-crime programming continues to draw attention, the appetite appears tied not only to suspense, but to a public expectation that justice stories include accountability, corrected errors and a clearer view of how systems can fail, and whom those failures tend to burden most.