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Primetime (American TV program)
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==History== ===Early history=== Originally, the program aired live on the ABC network and featured a live studio audience.<ref>{{cite web|author=WALTER GOODMAN|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D81239F937A3575BC0A96F948260&pagewanted=print |title=Review/Television; ABC News Offers Potpourri In 'Primetime Live' Debut |work=New York Times |date=August 4, 1989 |access-date=July 31, 2012}}</ref> The first interviews included [[Roseanne Barr]] 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. ===Cancellation and changes=== In 1998, ABC, in an effort to consolidate all of their news magazines, cancelled ''Primetime Live'' and combined it with ABC's other well-known news magazine, ''[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]''. The move was made to compete more effectively with [[NBC]]'s ''[[Dateline NBC|Dateline]]'', which ran multiple nights of the week. In 2000, however, ABC relaunched the program. It was renamed ''Primetime Thursday'' with [[Charles Gibson]], after they replaced Donaldson. In 2003, ABC aired a short-lived 2003 continuation of the newsmagazine, ''[[20/20 (American TV program)#20.2F20 Downtown|20/20 Downtown]],'' as ''Primetime Monday''. Beginning in the 2004–2005 season, the show was known once again as ''Primetime Live''. Its pair of co-hosts from the previous four seasons, [[Charles Gibson]] and [[Diane Sawyer]], was replaced by the rotating team of Sawyer, [[David Muir]], [[Chris Cuomo]], [[Cynthia McFadden]] and [[John Quiñones]]. The format shifted back to investigative reporting and a new executive producer, Shelley Ross, was brought on board. On July 21, 2005, the show's title was changed to ''Primetime''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings.aspx?id=20050718abc18 |title=Listings | TheFutonCritic.com – The Web's Best Television Resource |publisher=TheFutonCritic.com |date=July 18, 2005 |access-date=July 31, 2012}}</ref> Beginning in the 2006–2007 television season, the news magazine adopted a subseries format, where multiple episodes would be focused on one topic such as crime and medical mysteries, with no set weekly timeslot. Sawyer departed the program around the time this change in format occurred, though she occasionally anchored special editions of ''Primetime''. [[David Muir]] joined as co-anchor in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2007/03/23/david-muir-named-anchor-of-abcs-world-news-saturday-and-co-anchor-of-primetime-23976/20070323abc01/|title=Breaking News – David Muir Named Anchor of ABC's "World News Saturday" and Co-Anchor of "Primetime" – TheFutonCritic.com|website=www.thefutoncritic.com|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref> ''[[What Would You Do? (2008 TV program)|What Would You Do?]]'' has become the most popular sub-series and can be regularly seen on ABC, often with a set timeslot. In 2011 ABC aired a [[special edition]] of ''Primetime'': an interview by [[Diane Sawyer]] with [[Jaycee Dugard]]. In 2012, beginning with the sixth season, the ''Primetime'' branding was removed from the ''What Would You Do?'' show.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20120912abc01/|title=Listings – TheFutonCritic.com – The Web's Best Television Resource|website=www.thefutoncritic.com|access-date=June 3, 2017}}</ref> It still airs sans branding and is anchored by Quiñones. The branding has not been used by any program or special since this time. ===Food Lion scandal=== One hidden-camera investigation, of south-eastern U.S. grocery chain [[Food Lion]], backfired when Food Lion sued ABC. Food Lion sued for trespass and breach of loyalty, claiming that the report was produced under deceptive pre-tenses, 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 [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit|Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals]] resulted in the damages reduced to $2.00. This scandal caused significant damage to Food Lion's business operations, leading to the closures of recently opened stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, affecting their plans for future expansion, all while generating negative media attention and financial losses for the company.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Kirtley |first=Jane |url=https://ajrarchive.org/Article.asp?id=3132 |title=Don't Pop That Cork |magazine=[[American Journalism Review]] |access-date=October 30, 2013 |date=January–February 2000 |issue=210}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Goulden |first1=Joseph C. |author1-link=Joseph C. Goulden |title=ABC's Food Lion Lies: A Study in TV Deception |url=http://www.aim.org/publications/special_reports/foodlion.html |access-date=March 28, 2024 |work=[[Accuracy in Media]] |date=1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031023043951/http://www.aim.org/publications/special_reports/foodlion.html |archive-date=October 23, 2003}}</ref> ===Awards=== * 2005 - [[Pigasus Award]] (by [[James Randi Educational Foundation]]) for the special "John of God" about "[[psychic surgeon]]" [[John of God (Medium)|João Teixeira]]
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