After 25 Years at the Anchor Desk, Bill Ritter Steps Down to Fight Alzheimer's

On Friday, June 12, veteran Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter delivered what he called his final newscast—not because he wanted to walk away, but because he’s determined to. At 76, the longtime broadcaster announced he’s been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, and he’s chosen to step back from daily anchoring while he still can.

What makes Ritter’s decision striking isn’t just that he’s leaving. It’s how he’s leaving. Rather than disappear, he’s pivoting. The journalist, who’s helmed WABC-TV’s 6 p.m. broadcast since 2001 and anchored the station’s 11 p.m. newscast before that, plans to stay with the Eyewitness News team in a new reporting role focused entirely on Alzheimer’s. He’ll be covering the disease’s impact on patients and families, the financial toll of treatment and long-term care—which he described as simply unaffordable for many—and the search for solutions. It’s a way to keep doing what he’s always done: reporting the truth, where it leads.

Ritter was direct with viewers about what he’s facing. His doctors say early treatment is keeping the condition at bay for now, but there’s no cure yet.“Unless someone finds an amazing cure, and soon, tonight will be the last newscast I anchor,”he said. There’s no false hope in that statement, no sugar-coating—just clarity about a progressive disease that remains deeply unpredictable. He knows the stakes personally: his father died with Alzheimer’s in June 1998.

The announcement landed hard at the station. WABC-TV General Manager Marilu Galvez released a statement praising Ritter’s decades of service, crediting him with covering the stories that matter most to New Yorkers“with exceptional insight, integrity, and, most of all, heart.”That’s the kind of legacy most journalists hope for. But Ritter isn’t done yet.

What’s remarkable here is that stepping back from the desk doesn’t mean stepping back from the fight. He’s spent a quarter-century reporting the news to millions. Now he’s reporting on a battle that touches millions more—and he’s doing it from a place of hard-won understanding. His final newscast wasn’t goodbye. It was a pivot toward a different kind of story, one that matters even more now.