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, the program was designed as a counterpart to CBS's 60 Minutes in that it features in-depth story packages, although it focuses more on human interest stories. The program's name derives from the "20/20" measurement of visual acuity.
The two-hour program has been airing at 9:00 p.m ET 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 preceded by ABC's two-hour TGIF block of sitcoms.
In 2019, it 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.
Contents
History
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 candy cane 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 his catchphrase, "That's the way it was", spoofing the semi-competing CBS Evening News).
As a result of the scathing reviews reminiscent of another ABC one-episode flop from nine years before, the sketch comedy series Turn-On, serious and drastic changes were immediately made to salvage the program. ABC terminated the contracts of Hayes and Hughes along with 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, 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).
20/20 Downtown
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 Quiñones. 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
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.
Multiple episodes scheduled the same day without previous notice air under the 20/20 banner involving breaking news stories, either of national or world importance (and usually feature David Muir or a substitute at the World News Tonight desk leading coverage), or air after the verdict of a trial the series has followed as part of its continuing coverage and feature previous reporting and interviews wrapped around verdict coverage.
20/20 Britain's Most Notorious Crime Investigations
In July 2026, a six-part spin-off documentary series, 20/20 Britain's Most Notorious Crime Investigations, premiered on Disney+ in the United Kingdom and Ireland and on Disney+ and Hulu in the United States. Each 40-minute episode examines a notable British criminal case through interviews with individuals connected to the investigations and archival material. The series covers the cases of Ben Needham, Joanna Yeates, Ben Field, Mahek Bukhari, Jane Andrews, and Peter Tobin.
Theme music
The distinctive theme music to 20/20 from Score Productions was written by Bob Israel (who 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
Anchors
David Muir (2013–present)
Deborah Roberts (2022–present)
Correspondents
Juju Chang
John Quiñones
Diane Sawyer
Former on-air staff
Harold Hayes (1978; deceased)
Robert Hughes (1978; deceased)
Hugh Downs (1978–1999; deceased)
Barbara Walters (1979–2004, 2013–2014; deceased)
Diane Sawyer (1998–2000)
Charles Gibson (1998–2000; retired)
Sam Donaldson (1998–2000; retired)
Connie Chung (1998–2000)
Jack Ford (journalist) (2000)
John Miller (2002–2003)
John Stossel (2003–2009)
Elizabeth Vargas (2004–2018)
Chris Cuomo (2009–2013)
Amy Robach (2018–2023)
Martin Bashir
Sylvia Chase (1978–1988; deceased)
Catherine Crier
Katie Couric
Arnold Diaz (later at WPIX in New York City; deceased)
Steve Fox
Thomas Hoving (1978–1984; deceased)
Tom Jarriel (1979–2002; deceased)
Dr. Tim Johnson
Peter Lance
Syndication
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.
Local versions
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.