Barbara Walters Will Leave '20/20' to Focus on Specials

N E W  Y O R K, Jan. 25 -- Barbara Walters has decided it is time for a change. After 25 years as co-host and chief correspondent of ABCNEWS' 20/20, the broadcast legend will leave that role in September and begin a new phase in her career at the network.

She will remain an active member of the news division and network, substantially increasing the number of primetime ABCNEWS specials, in addition to her Barbara Walters Specials, David Westin, president of ABCNEWS announced today.

In asking to be released early from her duties on the newsmagazine, Walters said, "20/20 has been an integral part of my life and a major focus of my work. Starting in September, I want to have more flexibility in my life without the responsibilities of a weekly newsmagazine. I am deeply devoted to all those who work on 20/20, and thank them for all their hard work, week in and week out, that has made this such a wonderfully successful season."

"Barbara Walters has been an essential part of 20/20, and therefore, part of the lives of millions of Americans for a quarter-century," said Westin. "All of us will miss her strength, her grace and her presence on Friday nights. But as much as we will miss her as anchor of 20/20, we are just as delighted that we will see her in more primetime specials, where she will continue to contribute to television history."

In addition to increasing the number of specials, Walters will also remain executive producer and continue to appear as co-host of The View, the Emmy Award-winning daytime talk show she created in 1997. The Barbara Walters Specials routinely earn top ratings for ABC.

Walters was the first woman to anchor a network evening news broadcast when she signed with ABCNEWS in 1976. Prior to that, she was the co-host of NBC's Today Show for 13 years. While at NBC, she also hosted a popular syndicated series, Not for Women Only and was a familiar voice on that network's radio news programs. Early in her career, she had been the youngest producer at WNBC-TV in New York and worked as a writer for CBS News.