Al Primo dies

Al Primo was likely ahead of his time when it came to television news. The Pittsburgh native died at his home in Connecticut Thursday after a cancer battle. He was 87.

Primo may be one of the few recently left who was working at WDTV-TV when it was purchased by Westinghouse and redubbed KDKA-TV shortly after his arrival there. He was a news writer, reporter, anchor and assistant news director there.

In 1964, Primo made his way to sister station KYW-TV in Philadelphia where he created the “Eyewitness News” format which eventually made its way back to KDKA. Primo’s cousin and former WTAE-TV news director Joe Rovitto told The Trib’s Rob Owen, “That format for its day was very forward-thinking.”

At a time when local news was expanding from 15 minutes to 30, Primo took the talking head reciting the news and put the reporters at the scene of the story so that they could be eyewitnesses to the stories they told the viewers. In so doing, he developed the concept of the “news team”. He was also known for wanting reporters who represented the community – people from all backgrounds, races, and creeds.

Primo eventually worked at the network level and eventually as a consultant. In 2002, he created “Teen Kids News” to help young people understand the events in the world in a way they could relate to the stories. The syndicated program is in its 20th year and will continue to air.