Bill Ritter said Friday he is stepping away from anchoring at WABC-TV after doctors told him he has early stage Alzheimer’s disease, ending a run that made him one of the most familiar faces on New York television. He said the night’s broadcast would be his last as an anchor.
“After a series of tests, my doctors have told me I have Alzheimer’s,” Ritter said on air, adding that the treatments he is getting are keeping it at bay for now. “For now. But there is no guarantee, because there’s no cure yet for Alzheimer’s.”
The 76-year-old anchor had fronted WABC’s 6 p.m. newscast since 2001 and had been with the station since 1998. He started anchoring the 11 p.m. newscast in October 1999, added the 6 p.m. hour in February 2001 and also anchored the 5 p.m. news for several years, becoming the station’s main evening news voice.
Ritter’s departure from the desk is not a full goodbye. He said he will remain with Eyewitness News in a new reporting role focused on the rising tide of Alzheimer’s and similar diseases, including how patients and families are affected and how the cost of treatment and care has become unaffordable for many.
The shift gives WABC a way to keep one of its best-known anchors on staff, while turning his personal diagnosis into a reporting beat with obvious urgency. Ritter said his father died of Alzheimer’s in 1998, and he framed the move as both a professional change and a personal mission.
“I am going to so miss reporting the news to all of you, with the truth and with facts, no matter where they fall,” he said. “It has been my honor to do just that.” He closed by asking viewers to “take care of each other,” a line that carried more weight because it came from a man who has spent decades delivering the news instead of becoming it.
What remains unanswered is how long Ritter will continue in the new role. For now, the anchor chair he occupied for years is empty, and abc channel will have to replace not just a familiar face, but a voice tied to its evening news identity for more than two decades.
