Al Primo, creator of ‘Eyewitness News’ format, dies at 87
GREENWICH — Al Primo, the legendary television news executive who created the “Eyewitness News” format, died Thursday at his home in Old Greenwich, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
He was 87.
Primo was credited with creating the “Eyewitness News” format, a style of television news that emphasizes images and video. The format is still widely used by many national and local television news programs.
He launched his “Eyewitness News” format at a Philadelphia news station before joining New York’s WABC-TV, on Channel 7, in 1969. There, his innovative format revolutionized television news reporting.
“Eyewitness News” put a fresh spin on the dry, dull news programs of the day.
“It was very preachy,” Primo said of WABC-TV upon his arrival, “with a single Anglo-Saxon newsman preaching. There was an anchorman who talked for 10 minutes, followed by a weatherman for five minutes . . . followed by a sportsman giving reports like on radio for 10 minutes. Cameramen sat on fixed stools.”
“We loosened up the look of the studio,” he added. “We got those stools the cameramen were sitting on out of the studio — we said everything has got to move. That’s what makes exciting television and intelligent journalism.”
The news executive also valued diversity, and often hired women and people of color. He wanted his newsrooms to look like the audiences they served.
“We created a news family with “Eyewitness News,” with women and men, and a very diverse group,” Primo said in a 2013 interview.
In 2013, Primo won an Emmy award for his “Teen Kids News” show, a half-hour weekly program featuring teenage reporters that still airs on television.
“‘Teen Kids News’ is really necessary,” Primo said. “The only thing you hear about teens is sex, rock ‘n’ roll and who’s been arrested, but there are teens out there doing remarkable things.”
On Twitter, Geraldo Rivera, who Primo hired as a reporter at Channel 7, called him an elegant man, a loyal friend, and “one of the most important producers in broadcasting history.”