WABC - 7 Eyewitness News

[ns8401 998]

2 hours ago, wabceyewitness said:

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. 

2 hours ago, MorningNews said:

Not sure I get that complaint really. Stepping off the desk was overdue for Bill and that had become obvious to anyone watching. That said the abruptness of his finale was jarring, I mean it was tough watching him on GMA with those notes in his hands. It even seemed at one point the hosts had to guide him back on track. Tough to process that his decline wasn’t just ordinary aging but actually a debilitating cognitive decline.

 

I think it’s perfectly acceptable for him to continue working in some capacity so long as it’s not a distraction to the viewer like his nightly anchoring had become.

 

Especially given the scope of his reduced capacity which will be focused on Alzheimer’s. He’s earned that.

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?

Edited 20 hours ago by ns8401

[24994J 5897]

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.

 

21 hours ago, ns8401 said:

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.

 

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.

Edited 11 minutes ago by 24994J

[MediaZone4K 2680]

13 hours ago, Vlad said:

Liz Cho is anchoring solo tonight by the way for the 6pm. A teary Liz acknowledged Bill's departure today and she emphasized on how he will move on to a new role of doing reporting on Alzheimers from this point on. So tough to watch.  . At least he will still be there with them for the time being as long as he's able to.

Good to hear about her reaction. Hopefully they or another account posts that video soon.

 

Interesting that they didn't show Bill interacting with his colleagues, or reaction from his colleagues, regarding his announcement after he made it on Friday.

 

It would have been nice to see everybody wish him well after 20+ years of working together. But I respect his decision to close out the broadcast with just him and the viewer personally alone.

 

 

8 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

Definitely worth mentioning his announcement on the national level, but did the need to mention on GMA Saturday and GMA Monday, as well as WNT Friday and WNT Monday?

I think it's fair. With so many examples of news employers mistreating their employees, it's nice to see an organization respect their talent so much that they take every effort possible to mention his departure.

Edited 14 hours ago by MediaZone4K

[RealNews18 273]

1 minute ago, MediaZone4K said:

Good to hear about her reaction. Hopefully there are another account posts that video soon.

 

interesting that they didn't show Bill interacting with his colleagues, or reaction from his colleagues, regarding his announcement after he made it on Friday.

 

It would have been nice to see everybody wish him well  after 20+ years of working together. But I respect his decision to close out the broadcast with Gist him and the viewer personally alone.

 

 

I think it's fair. With so many examples of how news employers mistreating their employees, it's nice to see an organization respect their talent so much that they take every effort possible to mention his departure.

I was thinking the same thing. Being tht it was recorded I thought they’d go back live to the team but maybe everyone was too emotional.

[FiveNews 487]

Had no idea his farewell announcement was pre-recorded. Makes sense, I guess.

[HanSolo 480]

13 hours ago, ns8401 said:

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.

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. 

11 hours ago, TVNewsLover said:

Definitely worth mentioning his announcement on the national level, but did the need to mention on GMA Saturday and GMA Monday, as well as WNT Friday and WNT Monday?

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. 

[wabceyewitness 864]

12 hours ago, ns8401 said:

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?

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. 
 

 

 

 

[Dave Lampstein 304]

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. 

[wabceyewitness 864]

1 hour ago, Dave Lampstein said:

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. 

 

In an eerily similar fashion, Bill Ritter’s predecessor, Bill Beutel, stepped away from the anchor desk — first from the 11pm, then from the 6pm — and then took on a special corespondent role until he fully retired. Though it wasn’t publicly disclosed, he had begun showing early signs of dementia, even on air, and died of Lewy Body Disease just three years after retiring.  During his retirement tribute on WABC, you could see some confusion in his face and Diana Williams gently pointing out to him that all the people in the studio were there for him. Before he stepped away from anchoring, there were a few times where he would stop mid script and his co-anchor would jump in to continue the story. 
 

On a national level, Diane Sawyer (GMA, WNT), Meredith Vieira (Today), Barbara Walters (20/20, The View) and Tom Brokaw (NBC NN) left their anchor/host roles at their networks and transitioned into special corespondent / contributing anchor roles. 

Edited 5 hours ago by wabceyewitness

[abc7 Man 77]

Monday night, the 6pm had the short, talentless intro (which I thought would be used going forward). Tonight the full talent intro (with Bill) returned.

[wabceyewitness 864]

2 hours ago, abc7 Man said:

Monday night, the 6pm had the short, talentless intro (which I thought would be used going forward). Tonight the full talent intro (with Bill) returned.

someone cued the wrong file

[Recovering Producer 410]

17 minutes ago, wabceyewitness said:

someone cued the wrong file

 

More likely: someone said/thought they changed the master rundown template but did not successfully change the master rundown template. 

[TVNewsLover 862]

36 minutes ago, wabceyewitness said:

someone cued the wrong file

Any idea if the plan is for Liz to permanently be solo at 6pm? If not, what’s the word on who is likely to get the spot?

[MorningNews 1717]

6 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

Any idea if the plan is for Liz to permanently be solo at 6pm? If not, what’s the word on who is likely to get the spot?

On Monday Lee and Ryan commended Liz and noted that they and the show were in good hands with her at the helm. I imagine they’ll clarify soon.

 

David would be great with Liz at 6 but Liz is more than capable and talented to hold it down solo.

[RealNews18 273]

12 minutes ago, TVNewsLover said:

Any idea if the plan is for Liz to permanently be solo at 6pm? If not, what’s the word on who is likely to get the spot?

I think the best bet/most likely would be David, if they actually do replace. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Sandra get a chance. 

[24994J 5897]

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.

[WABC7NYFan 26]

Truly a sad day last Friday. I hope whatever treatments are out there, even the experimental ones, Bill will be able to get the best possible care.

Sad, but understandable that they've already replaced the 6PM newscast image. Seems that as of today they've also redesigned the page. I hope if anyone here who works at ABC7NY reads this: please fix the page so you can scroll down beyond the current day's newscasts. Even better would be an option to select a date, as some of us like to go back even further and on the previous layout, that meant endless scrolling.

Edited 11 minutes ago by WABC7NYFan