Barbara Walters To Retire In 2014

On Sunday night, ABC News made it official: Veteran newscaster Barbara Walters will be retiring in 2014 after 37 years with the network. Walters is set to make the announcement on The View on Monday. Until next summer, Walters will continue to appear on The View, report for ABC News, and anchor specials.

“I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead both on The View and with ABC News,” Walters said. “I created The View and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.”

Walters began at NBC’s Today Show in 1961, later moving to ABC’s Evening News in 1976, where she became the first female anchor of an evening news program. Soon after, she co-hosted 20/20. Walters created The View in 1997 — and will remain executive producer of the show.

“I do not want to appear on another program or climb another mountain,” she said. “I want instead to sit on a sunny field and admire the very gifted women — and OK, some men too — who will be taking my place.”

Reports of Walter’s retirement surfaced earlier this year, but she had insisted she would make the announcement on The View when the time came.

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