'Primetime' changes for ABC

NEW YORK -- The executive producer of ABC's "Primetime Thursday" newsmagazine announced yesterday he was quitting.

David Doss was replaced on an interim basis by Robert Lange, who has been senior broadcast producer at the show. ABC said Doss's departure was made by "mutual agreement."

An ABC executive, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ABC and Doss had been embroiled in a contract dispute. He had been working without a contract since November.

Doss did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

In an e-mail he wrote to ABC News staff members, Doss said: "No doubt this probably seems a bit sudden. But I am now in discussions about what I'm doing next."

"PrimeTime Thursday," with Diane Sawyer as host, has essentially been flat in the ratings, averaging 8.5 million viewers a week this season and last.

Channel 56 plans a roast for breakfast

WLVI-TV (Channel 56) said it will broadcast live from the traditional St. Patrick's Day Breakfast, hosted for the third year by state Senator Jack Hart of South Boston, on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The breakfast is a sort of political roast, with local officeholders and operatives sharing the spotlight and showing off their best attempts at barbed wit.

At 8:30 that morning, Senator Hart will be interviewed by WLVI's political analyst, Jon Keller. The station will then broadcast "Live from the Green Carpet," a one-hour special at 9 a.m., in which anchor Karen Marinella and senior correspondent Jack Hynes will interview guests as they arrive.

At 1 p.m., WLVI will repeat a 30-minute history of the event, which will include an interview with William Bulger, who made the event a keystone of the Boston political calendar. The former state Senate president (and former UMass president) hosted the breakfast for years.

Channel 56 will first air the historical special tomorrow at 10:30 p.m.

SUZANNE C. RYAN

Globe on NECN

Here's what's happening on "Around the Globe" today:

12:30 p.m.: "Globe at Home" -- Book Editor Jim Concannon and Watertown author Vyvyanne Loh on her debut novel "Breaking the Tongue."

4 p.m.: "Around the Globe"

6:30 p.m.: "New England Business Day"

8 p.m.: "NewsNight" Schedule is subject to change.

Talk of the dial

4 p.m. WBIX-AM (1060) -- "Market Wrap" with Mark Mills. Guest: Steve Olenick, president and founder, Audiolink Inc.

Other radio highlights

8 a.m. WGBH-FM (89.7) -- "Classics in the Morning." Beethoven's Rondino in Eb, WoO 25; Wassenaer's Concerto armonico No. 4 in F; Haydn's Symphony No. 100 in G, "Military"; Loeffler's A Pagan Poem; Brahms's Violin Concerto; J. Mason's Quales sumus; Mozart's Symphony No. 40.