Longtime WABC-TV anchor Bill Ritter signs off after early stage Alzheimer’s diagnosis
Veteran New York anchor Bill Ritter announced Friday that he will be leaving the news desk following a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Ritter, who has hosted ABC’s New York station WABC’s 6 p.m. newscast since 2001, said Friday’s broadcast will be his last at the anchor desk.
He said that after a series of tests, he was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s.
“They say the treatments I’m getting are keeping it at bay, at least for now,” Ritter, 76, said during his final anchor broadcast on Friday. “But there is no guarantee of this because there is no cure for Alzheimer’s yet.”
WABC – PHOTO: Bill Ritter delivers his sendoff anchor broadcast for WABC on June 12, 2026.
Ritter said he plans to continue reporting as often as he can and help others affected by Alzheimer’s.
“This station wants to delve deeper into the rising tide of Alzheimer’s and other similar diseases — including how it affects patients and their families, how the price of treatment and care for patients is unaffordable, and how this country can begin to change that,” Ritter said. he said.
He said he was very familiar with the disease, having lost his father to Alzheimer’s in 1998.
WABC general manager Marilu Galvez said Ritter was a defining presence at the station.
Ritter joined WABC in 1998 after a journalism career that spanned print media, including the Los Angeles Times, local television in California and network programming at ABC News. He began hosting the 11 p.m. newscast in 1999, then added the 6 p.m. newscast in 2001. He also presented the 5pm news for several years.
“I will sorely miss reporting to all of you with facts and truth, no matter where it falls,” Ritter said. “It was an honor to do this. But for now, I wish you health and peace, let’s take care of each other.”
