Barbara Walters announces retirement

Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters will retire from TV journalism next summer after over 5 decades behind the cameras with NBC and ABC.

ABC stated in an announcement last evening that Walters will continue to anchor and report for the network, anchor specials throughout the year, and appear on The View.

Walters ,83, has spent 37 years at ABC News, joining the network in 1976 to become the first female co-anchor on an evening news program. 3 years later, she became a co-host of ABC’s 20/20. Before joining ABC, Walters spent 15 years at NBC News, where she was a co-host of the Today show.

“There is only one Barbara Walters. We look forward to making her final year on television as remarkable, path-breaking and news-making as Barbara herself,” said ABC News President Ben Sherwood.

Walters said, “I am very happy with my decision. and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead. I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain. I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women — and, OK, some men, too — who will be taking my place.”

Walters is set to discuss her decision in greater detail today on the show she helped create, The View.



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