American television newsmagazine
20/20
|
---|
|
Genre
| News magazine
|
---|
Created by
| Roone Arledge
|
---|
Presented by
| |
---|
Theme music composer
| |
---|
Country of origin
| United States
|
---|
Original language
| English
|
---|
No.
of seasons
| 46
|
---|
No.
of episodes
| 500+
|
---|
|
Executive producer
| David Sloan (2005?present)
|
---|
Camera setup
| Multi-camera
|
---|
Running time
|
- 60 minutes (1979?2019)
- 120 minutes (2019?present)
|
---|
Production company
| ABC News Productions
|
---|
|
Network
| ABC
|
---|
Release
| June 6, 1978
(
1978-06-06
)
?
present
|
---|
20/20
(stylized as
20
20
) is an American television
newsmagazine
that has been broadcast on
ABC
since June 6, 1978. Created by
ABC News
executive
Roone Arledge
,
[1]
the program was designed similarly to
CBS
's
60 Minutes
in that it features in-depth story packages, although it focuses more on
human interest stories
than international and political subjects. The program's name derives from the "20/20" measurement of
visual acuity
.
The two-hour-long program has been a staple on Friday evenings (currently airing at 9:00 p.m.
Eastern Time Zone
) for much of the time since it moved to that timeslot from Thursdays in September 1987, though special editions of the program occasionally air on other nights. For most of its history, it was led into by ABC's two-hour
TGIF
block of sitcoms.
Since 2019, it has shifted to a two-hour format highlighting
true crime
stories and celebrity scandals rather than the traditional
investigative journalism
associated with newsmagazines, following the same programming direction as
CBS
's
48 Hours
and same-night competitor
Dateline NBC
. Special edition episodes, however, cover a wide range of topics.
History
[
edit
]
The anchors on the premiere telecast of
20/20
were
Esquire
magazine editor
Harold Hayes
, who also served as the program's senior producer, and
Time
art critic
Robert Hughes
. The program's debut received largely harsh reviews;
The New York Times
described it as "dizzyingly absurd" and
The Washington Post
denounced it as "the trashiest stab at candycane journalism yet." In his autobiography
Roone: A Memoir
, Roone Arledge recalled that probably the most embarrassing part of that initial program was the
Claymation
segments featuring caricatures representing then-President
Jimmy Carter
(singing "
Georgia on My Mind
") and
Walter Cronkite
(closing the program intoning, "That's the way it was"). As a result of the scathing reviews, serious and drastic changes were immediately made: Hayes and Hughes were fired (as was original executive producer Bob Shanks), and a then semi-retired
Hugh Downs
was recruited to take on the role of sole host on the following week's program.
Also featured in the premiere telecast of
20/20
, the opening sequence consisted of a pair of eyeglasses, whose lenses showed colored bars, which are often seen in the
SMPTE color bars
(used when television stations were off the air between sign-off and sign-on). The eyeglasses were keyed over a yellow background, and rotated to its rear position to reveal the
20/20
studio.
With Downs hosting,
20/20
changed into a more standard yet unique newsmagazine and received kinder reviews from critics. The program was originally launched as a summer replacement series; it was then presented on a once-a-month basis during the 1978?79 television season, before being given a regular weekly timeslot on Thursdays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time beginning May 31, 1979. Emmy Award-winning producer, Bernard I. Cohen began his career with ABC evening news in 1964. From 1979 to 1992, he was a lead Producer at 20/20 and helped solidify the program's top Nielsen Ratings. Ratings were generally very good during the summer months during its eight years on Thursday nights despite competition from
Knots Landing
on CBS and
Hill Street Blues
on
NBC
. It was around this time that the program started using the Brock Brower-written signoff line "We're in touch, so you be in touch" to end each program,
[2]
which continues to be used to now (the program also used the line "Around the world and into your home, the stories that touch your life" as the introduction during the program's opening titles for much of the 1990s).
Barbara Walters
joined the program in 1979 in a role something less than a co-anchor and soon became a regular special contributor in the fall of 1981. In 1984, she was named as co-anchor and thus Hugh Downs's equal, reuniting a duo which had already anchored together on NBC's
Today
from 1964 to 1971. The team would remain together on-air for the next 15 years.
In the fall of 1987,
20/20
was moved to Fridays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern; while in that timeslot, it ranked at 21st place in the annual
Nielsen ratings
by the 1991?92 season. It aired in that same Friday time slot until the fall of 2001, when ABC briefly replaced the program with the scripted family drama series
Once and Again
, only for
20/20
to return to the lineup again four months later; it has basically retained the timeslot ever since. While the program briefly moved to the 8:00 p.m. timeslot on October 12, 2007, it reverted to its usual time two weeks later.
In the late 1990s, ABC began to expand the show to additional nights. In September 1997, a second weekly edition of
20/20
with Downs and Walters made its debut on Thursday evenings, later moving to Mondays. From September 1998 to September 2000,
ABC News
chose to consolidate its newsmagazine programs by combining
20/20
and
Primetime Live
into a singular brand under the
20/20
name and format to compete with
Dateline NBC
(which itself ran for four nights a week at the time), and having former Primetime Live anchors
Sam Donaldson
and
Diane Sawyer
host
20/20
on Wednesday in the former show's old timeslot. Additional nights were also added during this time with various anchors for each broadcast. At its peak,
20/20
ran on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays, in addition to its longtime Friday timeslot; these additional nights of
20/20
were joined by the younger-skewing
20/20 Downtown
on Thursday nights in October 1999. In September 2000, ABC reinstated
Primetime
under the title
Primetime Thursday
, and spun off
20/20 Downtown
as a separate newsmagazine simply titled
Downtown
on Monday evenings. By early 2002,
20/20
once again was airing only in its original Friday timeslot.
On March 3, 1999,
Monica Lewinsky
, the former
White House
intern who was infamously revealed to have been involved in an affair with then-President
Bill Clinton
a few years earlier, was interviewed by Barbara Walters on the program; that particular edition of
20/20
was watched by an estimated 70 million viewers, which ABC stated was a record audience for a news program.
[3]
After Downs' retirement in 1999, Walters became the solo anchor of
20/20
. This lasted until
John Miller
was hired as a permanent co-host of the program in 2002; Miller never got very comfortable in the anchor chair, and a year later, he jumped at the chance to rejoin law enforcement. For a few months in early 2003, Barbara Walters temporarily anchored solo again. However, in May of that year,
John Stossel
? an investigative correspondent for the program who was behind the controversial, though popular, "Give Me a Break" segments ? was named as Walters' new co-anchor. As one of the first veteran anchors, Barbara Walters chose to go into semi-retirement as a broadcast journalist in 2004. However, she remained with
20/20
as a frequent contributor to the program. ABC News correspondent
Elizabeth Vargas
was promoted to the co-anchor position.
On August 25, 2008,
20/20
(alongside
ABC World News
and
Nightline
) began broadcasting in
high definition
, with broadcasts presented in a
pillarbox
format for viewers with
standard-definition television
sets watching either through
cable
or
satellite television
. The program also introduced a new set and upconverted its existing graphics package to HD.
[4]
In September 2009, before the start of its 31st season, John Stossel announced he would leave the program after 28 years to pursue a new weekly show on
Fox Business
.
[5]
Barbara Walters and
Diane Sawyer
also contributed reports. On December 10, 2009, ABC News announced that
Good Morning America
news anchor
Chris Cuomo
was promoted to co-host
20/20
alongside Elizabeth Vargas. On January 29, 2013, it was announced that Chris Cuomo would leave ABC News and
20/20
for
CNN
to co-host the cable network's new morning news program,
New Day
; on the same day, ABC announced
David Muir
would join Elizabeth Vargas as the new co-anchor of the program, in addition to continuing as weekend anchor of
ABC World News Tonight
(a role he retains after being appointed to main anchor of the since-renamed
ABC World News Tonight
in September 2014).
The program expanded once again on March 2, 2013, with the debut of
20/20 Saturday
, which mainly features rebroadcasts of archived stories from previous editions of
20/20
(mainly those dating back as early as 2008) in the same single topic format as the flagship Friday broadcasts.
20/20 Saturday
airs outside of
college football season
, at either 9:00 p.m. as a two-hour broadcast formatted as separate hour-long episodes centered on two different topics or at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time as an hour-long broadcast, depending on the programs that precede it that given week. Barbara Walters originally served as host of the program until her retirement from regular television broadcasting in May 2014, after which the hosting duties were turned over the anchors of the Friday editions.
On December 22, 2017, Elizabeth Vargas announced that she would be leaving
20/20
and ABC News at the end of May. On April 23, 2018,
Good Morning America
news anchor
Amy Robach
was announced to take over as co-anchor alongside Muir in May; she subsequently departed from ABC News (and
20/20
by extension) on January 27, 2023, after the
Daily Mail
reported the previous November on an affair between her and
T.J. Holmes
, who co-anchored
GMA3: What You Need to Know
with her.
[6]
Meanwhile,
Deborah Roberts
was named a contributing anchor to
20/20
on October 4, 2022, via a note from ABC News President
Kimberly Godwin
.
[7]
The December 30, 2022 edition of the program was interrupted in the Eastern and Central time zones by news of Barbara Walters's death around 9:30 p.m. ET, and anchor Phil Liphof anchored coverage for 90 minutes with ABC News's official obituary and comment from other ABC News staff about her life and impact.
20/20 Downtown
[
edit
]
Unlike most other newsmagazines,
20/20 Downtown
was never carried by any big name anchor. An ensemble team of anchors fronted the broadcast, which was aimed at attracting younger viewers, but was hampered by many of the network's larger market
network affiliate
stations bumping the program to late night or weekend timeslots to accommodate local pre-game shows or coach's shows/highlight recap programming dealing with
NFL
or
college football
teams preceding ABC's
Monday Night Football
. The anchor/reporting duties were filled by the team of Elizabeth Vargas,
Cynthia McFadden
, Chris Cuomo,
Jay Schadler
and
John Quinones
. The program was renamed
Downtown
but was canceled in 2002. In 2003, the program returned for one season as
Primetime Monday
, with the same anchors and format.
Special episodes
[
edit
]
Even though
20/20
still occasionally uses a multiple topic format, the program has seen a gradual shift towards single topic editions since the late 2000s (similar to what has occurred with
Dateline NBC
since around the same timeframe, although continuing to include a wider range of topics), either in the form of various story packages that relate to the topic or a focus on a single story.
Bad Romance: A Special Edition of 20/20
[
edit
]
Theme music
[
edit
]
The distinctive theme music to
20/20
was written by Robert Arnold Israel Sr. (who among other credits, also co-wrote theme music for now-cancelled fellow ABC series
All My Children
and
One Life to Live
) and based upon the longtime Lillian Scheinert-written theme used for
ABC World News Tonight
. The original theme was revamped around 1993, and was subsequently replaced in 1999, along with the
20/20
logo and the anchor desk on the program's set. Finally the orchestral
20/20
theme was updated in 2001, along with a few modifications in 2003 and 2005. In 2009, the theme was once again revamped, and once more in 2010, along with new graphics to reflect the news magazine's new darker tone; this new theme was written by DreamArtists Studios. In 2012 the theme was revamped, again arranged by DreamArtists Studios.
On-air staff
[
edit
]
Current on-air staff
[
edit
]
Note:
20/20
has specials with other "on-air staff".
[8]
Anchors
[
edit
]
Correspondents
[
edit
]
Former on-air staff
[
edit
]
Anchors
[
edit
]
Correspondents
[
edit
]
Ratings
[
edit
]
Season
|
Nielsen
ranking
|
Average viewership
|
1977?78
|
|
N/A (summer)
|
1978?79
|
1979?80
|
|
1980?81
|
1981?82
|
1982?83
|
1983?84
|
1984?85
|
55
|
13.7 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1985?86
|
40
|
15.5 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1986?87
|
43
|
14.2 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1987?88
|
54
|
12.6 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1988?89
|
40
|
14.1 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1989?90
|
44
|
13.5 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1990?91
|
33
|
13.5 million
[
citation needed
]
|
1991?92
|
21
|
14.4 million
[9]
|
1992?93
|
12
|
15.1 million
[10]
|
1993?94
|
15
|
14.3 million
[11]
|
1994?95
|
17
|
14.0 million
[12]
|
1995?96
|
11
|
13.6 million
[13]
|
1996?97
|
12
|
12.8 million
[14]
|
1997?98
|
19
|
15.0 million
[15]
|
1998?99
|
22
|
13.7 million
[16]
|
1999?2000
|
33
|
12.2 million
[17]
|
2000?01
|
44
|
11.5 million
[18]
|
2001?02
|
60
|
9.7 million
[19]
|
2002?03
|
76
|
8.8 million
[20]
|
2003?04
|
58
|
9.6 million
[21]
|
2004?05
|
66
|
8.5 million
[22]
|
2005?06
|
75
|
8.0 million
[23]
|
2006?07
|
106
|
7.5 million
[24]
|
2007?08
|
114
|
6.5 million
[25]
|
2008?09
|
76
|
7.0 million
[26]
|
2009?10
|
77
|
6.3 million
[27]
|
2010?11
|
100
|
5.8 million
[28]
|
2011?12
|
107
|
5.6 million
[29]
|
2012?13
|
83
|
5.7 million
[30]
|
2013?14
|
|
|
2014?15
|
|
|
2015?16
|
|
|
2016?17
|
|
|
2017?18
|
|
|
2018?19
|
97
|
4.8 million
[31]
|
2019?20
|
90
|
4.4 million
[32]
|
2020-21
|
72
|
4.11 million
[33]
|
2021-22
|
58
|
4.23 million
[34]
|
2022-23
|
63
|
3.87 million
[35]
|
Syndication
[
edit
]
True crime
-focused episodes of the series air in first-run syndication on
Oprah Winfrey Network
and
Investigation Discovery
as
20/20 on OWN/ID
.
International broadcasts
[
edit
]
Local versions
[
edit
]
- In the
Republic of Ireland
, an Irish version of
20/20
launched on
TV3
in 1998. The show, which was canceled in 2002, used a mix of reports produced domestically and for the American edition.
- In New Zealand,
TVNZ 1
airs an hour-long
local version
, featuring American-produced stories.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Suzanne Trimel (April 26, 2000).
"Roone Arledge Auditorium And Cinema Dedicated April 25"
.
Columbia University
.
- ^
"A Horrifying Satire of Hollywood Returns"
.
The Huffington Post
. November 18, 2011.
- ^
John Cloud (March 8, 1999).
"Monica's makeover"
.
CNN
.
- ^
Burns, Matt (August 25, 2008).
"ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, & Primetime going high-def"
.
TechCrunch
. Retrieved
March 8,
2024
.
- ^
Brian Stelter (September 11, 2009).
"John Stossel Leaving ABC for Fox Business"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Grynbaum, Michael M.; Koblin, John (January 27, 2023).
"ABC Co-Anchors to Leave Network After Tabloid Scandal"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
January 27,
2023
.
- ^
Johnson, Ted (October 4, 2022).
"Deborah Roberts Adds '20/20′ Contributing Anchor To ABC News Duties"
.
Deadline Hollywood
. Retrieved
January 27,
2023
.
- ^
"Transcript: ABC News' George Stephanopoulos' exclusive interview with President Trump"
.
ABC News
. June 16, 2019
. Retrieved
July 31,
2019
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1693.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1693.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1693.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1694.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1694.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1694.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
"The Final Countdown"
. EW.com. May 29, 1998
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).
The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present
(Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. p. 1695.
ISBN
978-0-345-49773-4
.
- ^
"Charts on Box Office Films, Film Trailers, Film Release, Independent Films, Music, TV Ratings, Theater, Video Games"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"The Bitter End"
.
EW.com
.
Entertainment Weekly
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. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"How did your favorite show rate?"
.
USA Today
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. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"Rank And File"
.
EW.com
. Entertainment Weekly. June 6, 2003
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"ABC Medianet"
. ABC Medianet. June 2, 2004. Archived from
the original
on September 30, 2007
. Retrieved
April 10,
2021
.
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"ABC Medianet"
. ABC Medianet. June 1, 2005. Archived from
the original
on March 10, 2007
. Retrieved
April 10,
2021
.
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"ABC Medianet"
. ABC Medianet. May 31, 2006. Archived from
the original
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. Retrieved
April 10,
2021
.
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"ABC Medianet"
. ABC Medianet. June 5, 2007. Archived from
the original
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September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"ABC Medianet"
. ABC Medianet. May 28, 2008. Archived from
the original
on July 17, 2014
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"ABC Medianet"
. ABC Medianet. May 19, 2009. Archived from
the original
on June 23, 2009
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"Final 2009?10 Broadcast Primetime Show Average Viewership"
.
TV by the Numbers
. Zap2It. June 16, 2010. Archived from
the original
on August 21, 2014
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"2010?11 Season Broadcast Primetime Show Viewership Averages"
.
TV by the Numbers
. Zap2It. June 1, 2011. Archived from
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on February 9, 2014
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"Complete List Of 2011?12 Season TV Show Viewership: 'Sunday Night Football' Tops, Followed By 'American Idol,' 'NCIS' & 'Dancing With The Stars'
"
.
TV by the Numbers
. Zap2It. May 24, 2012. Archived from
the original
on May 27, 2012
. Retrieved
September 20,
2012
.
- ^
"Complete List Of 2012?13 Season TV Show Viewership: 'Sunday Night Football' Tops, Followed By 'NCIS,' 'The Big Bang Theory' & 'NCIS: Los Angeles'
"
.
TV by the Numbers
. Zap2It. May 29, 2013. Archived from
the original
on June 7, 2013
. Retrieved
May 24,
2014
.
- ^
"2018?19 TV Season: Live-Plus-7 Ratings for Every Broadcast Series"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. June 10, 2019.
- ^
"TV Ratings: 7-Day Season Averages for Every 2019?20 Broadcast Series"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. June 4, 2020.
- ^
"2020-21 TV Ratings: Complete 7-Day Ratings for Broadcast Network Series"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. June 8, 2021.
- ^
"2021-22 TV Ratings: Final Seven-Day Numbers for Every Network Series"
.
The Hollywood Reporter
. June 8, 2022.
- ^
"100 Most-Watched TV Series of 2022-23: This Season's Winners and Losers"
.
Variety
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- ^
Knox, David (April 24, 2015).
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.
TV Tonight
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.
External links
[
edit
]