Al Primo Obituary

Al Primo was a television news executive who was credited with creating the Eyewitness News format.

More than a hundred markets have taken the Eyewitness News name to label their featured local newscasts and others using Primo’s concept under different names for their formats.

At WABC-TV, Primo assembled the legendary anchor duo of Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel, which garnered high ratings for 16 years until 1986, when Grimsby was let go from the station.

In 1999, Primo worked with Jonathan Braun to launch foreigntv.com, a website which featured streaming broadcasts from International news, hiring Peter Arnett as an international correspondent.

The following year, foreigntv.com became Medium4.com, launching three additional websites: StreamingUSA.com, NicheTV.com and Medium4Music.com.

On September 29, 2022, he died at the age of 87 and his death was first announced on Twitter by Geraldo Rivera, one of his most famous hirees at WABC.

Primo is survived by his daughter, Juliet and her family.