[1] The New York Daily News described Primo as the man "who almost single-handedly changed the face of broadcast journalism.
[4] Primo began in the business in 1953 as a mail boy at WDTV in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, moving up the ranks as the station switched dial positions (from channel 3 to channel 2), owners (from the DuMont Television Network to Westinghouse Broadcasting) and call letters (to KDKA-TV), working as news writer, cameraman, reporter, and anchorman.
[6] While in Cleveland, Primo hired Tom Snyder when the previous anchor, Jim Axel, left.
[8] It was in Philadelphia that Primo launched the Eyewitness News format[3][9] (the name itself had been used for some years before that by Westinghouse's television stations for its local newscasts, and in fact was first used by KYW itself in 1959 when it was based in Cleveland, Ohio).
[10] In September 1968, Primo moved to WABC-TV, the ABC affiliate in New York City, to become director of news there.
[15][16] Primo was made vice president in charge of news for ABC's owned and operated stations in May 1972.