Veteran ABC7 Anchor Bill Ritter Says He Has Early-Stage Alzheimer's and Will Step Back

Bill Ritter, the 76-year-old veteran ABC7 news anchor, announced live on Friday that he has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and will be leaving the evening newscast. Speaking during Eyewitness News on ABC7 in New York, he told viewers, “I want to share with you a very personal message.”

Ritter said he had already moved from the 11 p.m. broadcast to the 5 p.m. and then the 6 p.m. editions to spend more time with his family, but that “life has taken a turn” and family time is now even more important. After a series of medical tests, doctors told him he has Alzheimer’s, and he said treatments are helping delay its progress for now, though there is still no cure. “So unless someone comes up with a miracle cure and does it very soon, tonight’s newscast will be the last I’ll be presenting,” he said.

He also said he is not disappearing from ABC7. Ritter plans to keep working at the station, mentoring younger journalists and remaining on screen and online in some capacity. He said ABC7 wants to examine the rise of Alzheimer’s and similar diseases, including how they affect patients and families, the growing unaffordability of care, and how the country might begin to change that.

Ritter noted that his father died of Alzheimer’s in June 1998, and said he has been active in efforts to stop the disease since then. He also thanked his family, saying his children and his wife Kathleen have been the brave ones. He ended by saying, “I’m going to miss bringing you the news, with the truth and the facts, wherever they lead,” and urged viewers to “take care of each other.” Ritter began his career at KTTV, KCAL and KNSD, joined ABC in 1993 on Good Morning America Sunday, moved to Eyewitness News in 1999, and later shifted among the 11 p.m., 6 p.m. and 5 p.m. broadcasts before returning to the 6 p.m. edition last year.