The period of peak television set use, comonly 7 to 11 p.m. in the East and West, 6-10pm in the Midwest, three hours of which are programmed by the networks.
Primetime is a general-interest American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live. Originally, the program was aired live on the ABC network and featured a live studio audience. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE5D81239F937A3575BC0A96F948260&pagewanted=print 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.