Primetime (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Primetime is an America
n news magazine show which debuted on ABC
in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson
and Diane Sawyer
and originally had the title Primetime Live.
and a piece on a Middle East hostage crisis reported by Chris Wallace
. Donaldson and Sawyer would allow audience members to comment on the program and ask questions of the guests, who were usually interviewed live via satellite or in studio, a practice that resulted in many technical difficulties and easy satirization on Saturday Night Live
. Internal conflicts between Sawyer and Donaldson later led them to be separated, and the audience eliminated. However, the program has always had some live elements when broadcast as Primetime Live, generally consisting of Donaldson reading the opening remarks of packaged stories and the opening title as Primetime... LIVE!. Over time, live interviews were de-emphasized and hidden camera
investigations began to occupy more of the schedule.
's Dateline
, which ran multiple nights of the week. In 2000, however, ABC relaunched the program. It was renamed Primetime Thursday with Charles Gibson
replacing Donaldson. Beginning in the 2004–2005 season, the show was known once again as Primetime Live. Its pair of co-hosts from the previous season, Charles Gibson
and Diane Sawyer
, was replaced by the team of Sawyer, David Muir
, Chris Cuomo, Cynthia McFadden
and John Quiñones
. Beginning with the July 21, 2005, broadcast, the show's title has been Primetime.
, backfired on ABC when Food Lion sued. Food Lion sued for trespass and breach of loyalty, claiming that the report was produced under deceptive pretenses, and ABC employees hired by Food Lion wearing hidden cameras filmed other Food Lion employees without following proper notification procedures. Food Lion did not sue for libel, as the one-year statute of limitations had already run by the time it received all the footage shot by ABC, and prior to receiving the footage, its attorneys believed it would be difficult to prove that ABC acted with actual malice
. A jury awarded Food Lion $5.5 million, but later appeals by ABC to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals resulted in the damages reduced to $2.00.
Discontinued formats include:
Reporters:
in Europe and the Middle East. This includes ABC Primetime.
In Australia
, the program airs at 2pm Saturdays (Extended Edition) and 1.30pm Thursdays on Sky News Australia
.
In Canada
, Citytv
does have rights to the show but only airs it when a limited series is scheduled. Primetime: What Would You Do?
is currently on the air airing in simulcast
with ABC.
interviews Michael Jackson
& Lisa Marie Presley
and garners 37,532,000 viewers.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
n news magazine show which debuted on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson
Sam Donaldson
Samuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
and Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
and originally had the title Primetime Live.
Early history
Originally, the program was aired live on the ABC network and featured a live studio audience. The first interviews included Roseanne BarrRoseanne Barr
Roseanne Cherrie Barr is an American actress, comedian, writer, television producer and director. Barr began her career in stand-up comedy at clubs before gaining fame for her role in the sitcom Roseanne. The show was a hit and lasted nine seasons, from 1988 to 1997...
and a piece on a Middle East hostage crisis reported by Chris Wallace
Chris Wallace (journalist)
Christopher "Chris" Wallace is an American journalist, currently the host of the Fox Network program, Fox News Sunday. Wallace has won three Emmy Awards, the Dupont-Columbia Silver Baton Award, and a Peabody Award. Wallace has been with Fox News since 2003...
. Donaldson and Sawyer would allow audience members to comment on the program and ask questions of the guests, who were usually interviewed live via satellite or in studio, a practice that resulted in many technical difficulties and easy satirization on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. Internal conflicts between Sawyer and Donaldson later led them to be separated, and the audience eliminated. However, the program has always had some live elements when broadcast as Primetime Live, generally consisting of Donaldson reading the opening remarks of packaged stories and the opening title as Primetime... LIVE!. Over time, live interviews were de-emphasized and hidden camera
Hidden camera
A hidden camera is a still or video camera used to film people without their knowledge. The camera is "hidden" because it is either not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another object...
investigations began to occupy more of the schedule.
Cancellation and changes
In 1998, ABC, in an effort to consolidate all of their news magazines, canceled Primetime Live and combined it with ABC's other well-known news magazine, 20/20. The move was made to compete more effectively with NBCNBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Dateline
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
, which ran multiple nights of the week. In 2000, however, ABC relaunched the program. It was renamed Primetime Thursday with Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
replacing Donaldson. Beginning in the 2004–2005 season, the show was known once again as Primetime Live. Its pair of co-hosts from the previous season, Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
and Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
, was replaced by the team of Sawyer, David Muir
David Muir
David Muir is an American journalist and anchor for ABC News, the news division of the ABC broadcast-television network based in New York City, New York.-Early life and education:...
, Chris Cuomo, Cynthia McFadden
Cynthia McFadden
Cynthia McFadden is an anchor and correspondent for ABC News who currently co-anchors Nightline and Primetime.-Education:...
and John Quiñones
John Quiñones
Juan Manuel "John" Quiñones is an ABC News correspondent, and currently the host of Primetime: What Would You Do?.-Early life and education:John Quiñones was born in San Antonio, Texas on May 23, 1952...
. Beginning with the July 21, 2005, broadcast, the show's title has been Primetime.
Food Lion scandal
One hidden camera investigation, of Food LionFood Lion
Food Lion LLC is an American grocery store company headquartered in Salisbury, North Carolina that operates approximately 1,300 supermarkets in 11 Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states as well as Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia under the Food Lion, Harveys Supermarket, Bloom, Bottom Dollar...
, backfired on ABC when Food Lion sued. Food Lion sued for trespass and breach of loyalty, claiming that the report was produced under deceptive pretenses, and ABC employees hired by Food Lion wearing hidden cameras filmed other Food Lion employees without following proper notification procedures. Food Lion did not sue for libel, as the one-year statute of limitations had already run by the time it received all the footage shot by ABC, and prior to receiving the footage, its attorneys believed it would be difficult to prove that ABC acted with actual malice
Actual malice
Actual malice in United States law is a condition required to establish libel against public officials or public figures and is defined as "knowledge that the information was false" or that it was published "with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." Reckless disregard does not...
. A jury awarded Food Lion $5.5 million, but later appeals by ABC to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals resulted in the damages reduced to $2.00.
Format change
Starting with the 2006–07 television season, Primetime has stopped airing as a stand-alone program. The series currently airs in special formats.Formats
Current formats of Primetime include:- Primetime: What Would You Do?Primetime: What Would You Do?Primetime: What Would You Do?, more commonly known and referred to as What Would You Do?, an American television newsmagazine broadcast on ABC since 2008 as part of the Primetime series. The show is about setting up everyday scenarios that reflect on how people react, why they react, and when they...
- a hidden camera series sets up everyday scenarios and then captures people's reactions. Whether they're compelled to act or mind their own business, Primetime reports on their split-second - and often surprising - decision-making process.
- Primetime: The OutsidersPrimetime: The OutsidersPrimetime: The Outsiders is a format of the ABC News Primetime series that looks at bizarre and unusual lifestyles and stories....
- features reports on people who live by their own rules and in their own worlds - worlds that the average person may find unimaginable. The limited series takes viewers behind closed doors and into the lives of people outside the bounds of conventional society.
- Primetime: Crime - investigates crime in a whole new way by going deep inside real and provocative cases. In some episodes these involve unsolved cases where, for various reasons, the criminal has not been brought to justice. In other episodes the viewer will watch incriminating video of a crime made by the criminal himself. Primetime: Crime will retrace the twists and turns of cases, providing new clues and forensic evidence that could potentially solve crimes.
- Primetime: Family Secrets - goes behind closed doors and sees first-hand the secrets most families would never talk about.
- Primetime: Mind Games - investigates people who use psychology for evil.
Discontinued formats include:
- Primetime: Basic Instincts - brought some of most well known intellectual theories and psychological experiments to life and tested people's innate decision making processes.
- Primetime: Medical Mysteries - reported on some of the rarest disorders and syndromes in medicine today. The series examined cases that still leave scientists and doctors with unanswered questions when trying to explain the human body.
Co-hosts and reporters
Co-Hosts:- Sam DonaldsonSam DonaldsonSamuel Andrew "Sam" Donaldson, Jr. is a reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to the present, best known as the network's White House Correspondent and as a panelist and later co-anchor of the network's Sunday Program "This Week."-Early life and career:Donaldson was born in El...
(1989–1998) - Charles GibsonCharles GibsonCharles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
(2000–2004) - Diane SawyerDiane SawyerLila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
(1989–1998, 2000–2009) - Chris Cuomo (2000–2009)
- Cynthia McFaddenCynthia McFaddenCynthia McFadden is an anchor and correspondent for ABC News who currently co-anchors Nightline and Primetime.-Education:...
(2004–present) - John QuiñonesJohn QuiñonesJuan Manuel "John" Quiñones is an ABC News correspondent, and currently the host of Primetime: What Would You Do?.-Early life and education:John Quiñones was born in San Antonio, Texas on May 23, 1952...
(2004–present) - David MuirDavid MuirDavid Muir is an American journalist and anchor for ABC News, the news division of the ABC broadcast-television network based in New York City, New York.-Early life and education:...
(2004–present)
Reporters:
- Jay Schadler: contributes reports
- Mary Fulginiti: report on legal and investigative issues primarily for "Primetime"
- Rondi CharlestonRondi CharlestonRondi Charleston is a Juilliard-educated jazz vocalist and songwriter with four albums to her credit. She is also an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning television journalist and investigative reporter for Primetime....
(former)
International broadcasts
ABC News programming is shown daily on the 24 hour news network Orbit NewsOrbit News
OSN News is a 24 hour satellite and cable channel offering exclusively American news programming from ABC, NBC, PBS, and MSNBC to U.S. expats and other viewers abroad, primarily geared towards an audience in the Arab countries...
in Europe and the Middle East. This includes ABC Primetime.
In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, the program airs at 2pm Saturdays (Extended Edition) and 1.30pm Thursdays on Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia
Sky News Australia is an Australian 24 hour cable and satellite news channel available in 2.5 million homes on Foxtel, Austar, Optus Television and Neighbourhood Cable subscription platforms....
.
In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
does have rights to the show but only airs it when a limited series is scheduled. Primetime: What Would You Do?
Primetime: What Would You Do?
Primetime: What Would You Do?, more commonly known and referred to as What Would You Do?, an American television newsmagazine broadcast on ABC since 2008 as part of the Primetime series. The show is about setting up everyday scenarios that reflect on how people react, why they react, and when they...
is currently on the air airing in simulcast
Simultaneous substitution
Simultaneous substitution is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requiring Canadian cable, direct broadcast satellite and multichannel multipoint distribution service television distribution companies to substitute the signal of a foreign or...
with ABC.
Ratings
Highest Rated Episode: 6/14/1995-Diane SawyerDiane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
interviews Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
& Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley
Lisa Marie Presley is an American singer and songwriter, also known as the "Princess of Rock and Roll". She is the only child of Elvis Presley, and daughter of Priscilla Presley.-Early life:...
and garners 37,532,000 viewers.