[2] The first interviews included Roseanne Barr and a piece on a Middle East hostage crisis reported by Chris Wallace.
The format shifted back to investigative reporting and a new executive producer, Shelley Ross, was brought on board.
[3] Beginning in the 2006–2007 television season, the news magazine adopted a subseries format, where multiple episodes would be focused on one topic such as crime and medical mysteries, with no set weekly timeslot.
Sawyer departed the program around the time this change in format occurred, though she occasionally anchored special editions of Primetime.
In 2011 ABC aired a special edition of Primetime: an interview by Diane Sawyer with Jaycee Dugard.
Food Lion did not sue for libel, as the one-year statute of limitations had already run by the time it received all the footage shot by ABC, and prior to receiving the footage, its attorneys believed it would be difficult to prove that ABC acted with actual malice.
This scandal caused significant damage to Food Lion's business operations, leading to the closures of recently opened stores in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Delaware, and Pennsylvania, affecting their plans for future expansion, all while generating negative media attention and financial losses for the company.
[8] Sawyer's interview was controversial in the journalism industry for her use of pre-taped "persons on the street" to ask the couple questions.