Veteran ABC New York television anchor Bill Ritter is stepping away from the anchor desk.
Ritter announced earlier this week that he is retiring, noting that Friday, June 12, will be the last time he anchors the news on WABC TV in New York. Ritter, 76, joined the station in 1998 and has hosted the 6:00 p.m. news program since 2001. The reason for his retirement is an Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
“After a series of tests, my doctors told me I have Alzheimer’s. It’s early-stage Alzheimer’s, and they say the treatments I’m receiving are keeping it at bay. For now,” Ritter told WABC viewers late last week.
He admitted that in the last two years he has forgotten more and more names and places.
Ritter later added, “…there’s no guarantee, because there’s still no cure for Alzheimer’s. So unless someone finds an amazing cure, and soon, tonight (Friday, June 12) will be the last newscast I anchor.”
When Ritter first noticed Alzheimer’s symptoms, he stopped doing the 5 pm and 11 pm broadcasts and reduced his workload to just the 6 pm news. Despite the abbreviated schedule, his symptoms did not improve.
he said Good morning America that upon learning of his diagnosis the first thing he thought of was his father, who died of Alzheimer’s in 1998. “…It was terrifying. Because it was like, ‘Wait a minute, I’m supposed to be doing this. What’s going on here?’
“I quickly moved into the husband/dad spot. Because Alzheimer’s really affects the family the most. As a father and husband, I said, ‘I have to deal with this. This is my family. And that’s what I’m really worried about.'”
Prior to working at WABC, Ritter worked in local television throughout California and also for the Los Angeles Times.
Despite his retirement and diagnosis, Ritter will not leave alphabet New York completely. He will contribute to the station by covering Alzheimer’s disease in a special role. Ritter said station website that its coverage of the disease will report on “the rising tide of Alzheimer’s and other similar diseases, including how it is affecting patients and their families, how the price of treatment and the price of patient care is simply unaffordable, and how this country could begin to change that.”
Ritter also shared that he plans to spend more time with his family.
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