Cold Case Files

Overview

According to A&E, the show has been widely praised by law enforcement agencies, and its investigative reports are commonly used in the training of detectives. Cold Case Files first aired as a sub-series of another A&E crime documentary program, Investigative Reports, also hosted by Bill Kurtis, which ran from 1991 to 2011. Reruns of the original 1997 series currently air in broadcast syndication in the United States, usually in lower-profile time slots, and on many RTV stations. The Blumhouse Television, AMPLE Entertainment reboot aired its first episode on A&E on February 27, 2017. The complete first season was streamed on Hulu on January 1, 2018, and later on Netflix on September 15, 2019. Some episodes of the series have now been adapted into a podcast of the same name, Cold Case Files, hosted by Brooke Gittings and featuring the voice of the original Cold Case Files host, Bill Kurtis. The podcast is part of the PodcastOne podcast network in conjunction with A&E. The series has multiple seasons: Season 1 (1999), Season 2 (2000), Season 3 (2001), Season 4 (2002), Season 5 (2005–06), Season 6 (2017), Season 7 (2021), Season 8 (2022), and Season 9 (2024–2025). The first ten episodes were made available to stream on Hulu on January 11, 2024, and later broadcast on A&E beginning with "Money Moguls and Murder" on November 15, 2024. Specials include Cold Case Files: The Rifkin Murders (2023) and Cold Case Files: The Grim Sleeper (2024). Spin-off series include Cold Case Files: DNA Speaks (2023), narrated by Keith David; Cold Case Files: Murder in the Bayou (2025), narrated by Keith David; and Cold Case Files: Dead West (2025), narrated by Dude Walker. The series received Emmy Award nominations: Outstanding Nonfiction Series (2005) nomination for Michael Harvey (executive producer), Laura Fleury (executive producer), Tania Lindsay (supervising producer), Michael West (supervising producer), Mary Frances O'Conner (producer), and Bill Kurtis (host); and Outstanding Nonfiction Series (2004) nomination for Laura Fleury (executive producer), Michael Harvey (supervising producer), Mike West (producer), and Bill Kurtis (host). It also received an Online Film & Television Association Award nomination for Best Informational Program (2007).