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With one poster calling out WABC and saying that Bill should've retired into the sunset, and I bet haven't considered: the cost of health insurance. Yes, Bill could be on Medicare, but what you pay on Medicare is dependent on what you earn. I wouldn't be surprised that Disney/ABC accommodated Bill with this special correspondent position so he can continue with Disney's health insurance and Medicare/Medicare Advantage if he has one. Let's not forget that we aren't a country with universal health insurance for everyone and as Bill pointed out, treatment for Alzheimer/Dementia is very, very expensive.

His reports will surely be infrequent, his will be a unique perspective, said reports will be scripted with as many takes as needed to record, and if he does appear at the desk for a de-brief, everyone involved, including the viewer, will be aware of the circumstances and be understanding. I really don't get the hate. So what if it's only a year or two? I'm not sure I'd be putting money on many local news staples to be viable beyond that timeline, so why should the expectations for this to be any different? As for the reading of notes, that's being mature and proactive. He knows he's not 100%, so he's doing something that helps him retain info better. Hell, many healthy newscasters that are half his age should be taking more notes, these days. Similarly, folks are within their right to express the opinion that you're coming off as more than a little callous, especially as someone who is almost completely unaffected by this. None of us outside of market #1 are regular WABC viewers, so Bill going on local TV and trying something unique like this isn't going to ruin or make our day. If he, his bosses, co-workers, family, and (die-hard) viewers don't have a problem with this, then it is kind of a you problem.

Did he phrase/execute what he said perfectly? No. Absolutely not. Holding back tears and reading off the teleprompter rarely goes well. But I interpreted it as a "this is a job where we have balanced the mix of reporting the uncomfortable stuff AND the fluff." But there's a web story, and video on literally every station social media platform. If this was a quit in protest, it would not be memorialized like this. Dude is probably just fed up with the alarm clock from morning hours. Also, in 2026 it is smart for a married couple to diversify employers and not rely on the same broadcast/media company for paychecks and health insurance.

The diverging paths of replacing traditional anchor led newscasts with either this podcast style and playlist (Scrippscast, etc...) style newscast is an interesting situation to see develop, and also shows a divide in how people are consuming media right now. People are either getting information through quick self-contained contained storytelling where TikTok and similar platforms are succeeding or long conversations that can wind and go in all sorts of directions, which works well in podcasts. TV has been slow to respond, and these changes might be too little too late. The problem is podcast and playlist style newscasts are the "we have McDonald's at home" versions of the products they try to emulate. They're constrained by being on linear platforms, still having to deal with specific schedules and time lengths, advertising and sponsor obligations, risk averse corporate policies, expected to color within the lines of being perceived as neutral and objective, and the other limitations that come with being legacy media outlets. And the podcast style definitely is personality dependent. A legacy anchor may not necessarily have the right personality to match the podcast style. But, ultimately both of these models aren't going away because revenues are dropping and the cost of getting a product to air needs to match budget realities.

I'll say what I said on Discord about this: it's important to look at this as a digital product being simulcast on TV, instead of "they changed the news to look like this." The traditional newscast was, in essence, canceled, and the time filled with a streaming show. "But this looks bad! It won't get good ratings!" you may say... That's kind of the point? If people want "traditional" news, they can switch over to KSNF and watch most of the same content presented differently. This does not exist to get #1 ratings on TV. It exists to sell OTT targeted advertising to people who, at this point, are used to seeing this format, however "cheap" it looks. I would not be surprised to see this roll out to more Nexstar duopoly markets.

If this really was as sudden of a change as we're led to believe, then I'd imagine a successor just isn't an immediate priority. Vacation time and such are weird in the summer, so if they do want to give her a co-anchor, they may just wait until the fall.

With the exception of like Tom Skilling or Judy Woodruff, I don't know that I can name many anchors who stepped away from the desk and said they'd be back for special projects and reports who actually followed through. Having gone through this myself with family, if this was me, I'd never want to set foot back in the office. That said, he might like his co-workers and what he does enough to be motivated to stay busy and sharp as he navigates this. Just sad all around though. This is one of the worst ways to go.

that’s great that you’re expressing your opinion. So was I, though, I didn’t feel the need to write a paragraph explaining how expressing opinions works. Back to Bill — he’s not “that bad already”. Watch last week’s newscasts leading up to the announcement. Watch his interview on Good Morning America. Not knowing there’s a health issue, he just comes off at times a guy in his 70s who’s likely nearing retirement and, like anyone in their 70s, not as sharp as they were 10, 20, 30 years ago. “Gracefully gone into the sunset” - think of the message that sends to millions of Americans and their families dealing with this disease. Diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s and still feeling great and able to work — doesn’t matter. Just go off into the sunset and give up doing what you love. It’s a great thing Bill is doing and it’s great that ABC is supporting him, in my opinion.

This is absurd. There will come a point he cannot do even that reporting and when it comes, it will end. But having lost multiple family members to the ravages of dementia, I can say with painful first-hand experience that were there someone of a comparable familiarity to Mr. Ritter to those relatives, it might have eased the early pain and fear momentarily. Understanding what's happening and realizing the diagnosis itself is not an immediate sentence to be banished from the world they knew. The immediate isolation while they retain the memories and the ability to communicate is devastating. Reports on Alzheimer's will be hard to watch for many. Hell, I've been through it and they'd be hard for me, triggering painful memories. But it's important that we understand that there is still so much value someone with a disease like that can bring even if their decline is inevitable. While I'm sure ABC, or any network, would love complete overlap between shows, the reality is, especially over weekends, that people are not tuning in to each broadcast and paying the kind of attention folks on board like this do.

Why should they do anything but what he, his employer, his family, and his doctors agree is best for all involved?

That’s got to be a rhetorical question, no? This board exists for people to express their opinions. What they actually do may not come close to reflecting the opinions expressed here. I was giving my two cents. That’s not a crime. Your post is the sort of comment I could copy and paste as a reply to anyone’s post here in any thread on the entire board and it would work more or less. I’m essentially arguing that it’s gonna be very very hard to pull off if he’s that bad off already and it will be very difficult to keep it from being a noticeable distraction. If you turn it around and make it about him but let another reporter or even an anchor report on it it’s a much gentler ride. You also don’t have to deal with things around midstream when he gets too far gone to report. So I disagree with their strategy here. Given the general progression of a cognitive disease like this it probably won’t be a real long running series. Maybe you get a year or two out of it?

Ok now that’s a little much. Cue him live in studio saying he works for a different station or is in a different city or is a plumber or something. He should just gracefully be gone into the sunset. If they assigned another reporter to check in with him and did a series of reports in his honor that would make more sense.