20/20 (American TV program)

20/20
GenreNews magazine
Created byRoone Arledge
Presented by
Theme music composer
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons46
No. of episodes500+
Production
Executive producerDavid Sloan (2005–present)
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time
  • 60 minutes (1979–2019)
  • 120 minutes (2019–present)
Production companyABC News Productions
Original release
NetworkABC
ReleaseJune 6, 1978 (1978-06-06) –
present
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

20/20 (stylized as 2020) 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.

  1. ^ Suzanne Trimel (April 26, 2000). "Roone Arledge Auditorium And Cinema Dedicated April 25". Columbia University.