Latest / OneLegUpAlex Media / ONELEGUPALEX MEDIA REPORTS ON THE BREAKING MEDIA NEWS DELIVERED BY BILL RITTER ON ABC7NY 6-12-26

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ONELEGUPALEX MEDIA REPORTS ON THE BREAKING MEDIA NEWS DELIVERED BY BILL RITTER ON ABC7NY 6-12-26 · OneLegUpAlex Media

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  Speaker 1: Well, here at one lug up alex Media, I have
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  Speaker 1: to report the breaking news in media tonight because beloved
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  Speaker 1: longtime anchor for ABC seven News Eyewitness News, Bill Ritter,
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: has announced his retirement from the anchor desk. Entirely with
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: this shocking announcement tonight.
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  Speaker 2: You remember that last year, well some of you will,
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  Speaker 2: I turned seventy five and I thought it was time
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  Speaker 2: to cut back a bit after so many years. I
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  Speaker 2: stopped anchoring the eleven o'clock and then later the five
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  Speaker 2: o'clock News. My goal was to spend more time with
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  Speaker 2: my family. Now, a year ago I became a grandfather
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  Speaker 2: thanks to my oldest daughter, and later this summer I'll
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  Speaker 2: have a second grandchild thanks to my son, And in
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  Speaker 2: a year from now, my youngest daughter will graduate high school.
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  Speaker 2: But spending more time with my family has now become
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  Speaker 2: even more important because my life has taken a turn.
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  Speaker 2: After a series of tests, my doctors have told me
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  Speaker 2: I have Alzheimer's. This is called early stage Alzheimer's, and
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  Speaker 2: they say the treatments I'm getting are keeping it at
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  Speaker 2: bay at least for now, But there is no guarantee
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  Speaker 2: here because there's no cure yet for Alzheimer's. So unless
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  Speaker 2: someone finds an amazing cure and really soon, tonight will
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  Speaker 2: be the last newscast I anchor. It's not easy for
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  Speaker 2: me to say all that to you are viewers and
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  Speaker 2: the people I work with, like the man I've worked
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  Speaker 2: with for twenty five and a half years, our producer
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  Speaker 2: and my friend Zahir Sacha Dina, I believe we are
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  Speaker 2: the longest running behind the scenes newscast team ever here
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  Speaker 2: or maybe anywhere. A Muslim producer and the Jewish anchor
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  Speaker 2: for twenty five and a half years. It's what the
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  Speaker 2: melting pot of New York and the tri State and
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  Speaker 2: I would hope the country is all about. For twenty
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  Speaker 2: three of these years, I anchored next to my remarkable
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  Speaker 2: partner and friend, Liz Cho. We are the longest running
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  Speaker 2: on air team in the history of Channel seven and
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  Speaker 2: for twenty years another eyewitness news record with Lee Goldberg,
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  Speaker 2: the best meteorologist in the country, and the guy who
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  Speaker 2: is also my very great friend and are oh so talented.
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  Speaker 2: As we have seen this past few weeks, Sports anchor
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  Speaker 2: Ryan Field, who makes me laugh every day and who
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  Speaker 2: also likes to laugh at me just about every day,
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  Speaker 2: and sitting with me for fourteen years on the eleven
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  Speaker 2: and then later on the five, I sat next to
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  Speaker 2: the amazing Shade Batteran Law. We remain the longest running
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  Speaker 2: eleven o'clock team ever on Eyewitness News. I also want
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  Speaker 2: to say thanks to my bosses at WABC. They have
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  Speaker 2: treated me and my family with compassion and humanity and love.
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  Speaker 2: As for my family, my kids say, Dad, you're being
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  Speaker 2: so brave with all this that. No, it's not me
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  Speaker 2: who's brave. It's they who are brave, as is my
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  Speaker 2: wife Kathleen. So what am I going to do now? Well,
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  Speaker 2: I'm going to continue working right here on ABC seven.
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  Speaker 2: I will continue helping the younger journalists here at Eyewitness News. Hey,
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  Speaker 2: I'm now seventy six years old, so for me, everyone
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  Speaker 2: in the newsroom is a lot younger than I am.
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  Speaker 2: I'm also going to remain a journalist here at Eyewitness News,
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  Speaker 2: and so you will still see me on air and online.
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  Speaker 2: One reason, because this station wants to dig deeper into
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  Speaker 2: the rising tide of Alzheimer's and other similar diseases, how
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  Speaker 2: it's affecting patients and their families, how the price of
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  Speaker 2: treatment and the price of caring for patients is simply unaffordable,
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  Speaker 2: and how this country might begin to change all that.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a stranger to this disease. Dad died with
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  Speaker 2: it in June nineteen ninety eight. I have since been
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  Speaker 2: active in the fight to stop Alzheimer's and I will
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  Speaker 2: continue doing that along with my friend Mike Marza, who
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  Speaker 2: took my place to a call last year on Eyewitness
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  Speaker 2: News at five and eleven. Mike's grandfather died from this disease,
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  Speaker 2: and we have emceed together many Alzheimer's awareness events to
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  Speaker 2: spread the word. I am going to so miss reporting
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  Speaker 2: the news to all of you with the truth and
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  Speaker 2: with facts, no matter where they fall. It has been
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  Speaker 2: my honor to do just that. But for now, I
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  Speaker 2: wish you health and peace and let's take care of
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  Speaker 2: each other.
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  Speaker 1: What a message by Bill Ritter. And you know, in
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  Speaker 1: those twenty plus years, whether it was at Avenita or
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  Speaker 1: even at my own home, I remember always tuning into
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  Speaker 1: ABC seven and we gotten to know Scott Clark, the
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  Speaker 1: former sports guy before Ryan Sports anchor. Of course Marvalo
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  Speaker 1: Scott as well. And then you talk about meteorologists Sam
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  Speaker 1: Champion and Lee Goldberg. I mean, what a family. ABC
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  Speaker 1: seven is and Eyewitness News has been the household for
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  Speaker 1: many many homes, the households channel and whatever channel you're
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  Speaker 1: on tonight, this is a big one. Bill Ritter was
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  Speaker 1: truly a consistent standard voice at the five to six
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  Speaker 1: and eleven and he had reported through many things. I
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  Speaker 1: think it was the ABC seven I found about Corey
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  Speaker 1: Lytle's uh tragic helicopter crash that killed them or airplane
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  Speaker 1: crash that killed them in New York City. I think
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  Speaker 1: it was ABC seven, the Hudson River scully first on
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  Speaker 1: the scene, Eyewitness News. They were always there and Bill
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  Speaker 1: Ritter was always on our screens. And it's incredible that
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  Speaker 1: this announcement happened tonight because this month is in fact,
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  Speaker 1: Alsheimer's Awareness Month. It's observed annually in June to reduce stigma,
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  Speaker 1: promote early diagnosis, and fund research for over fifty five
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  Speaker 1: million people. The official Woman of Color is purple worn
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  Speaker 1: during local events and campaigns to show support. So this
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  Speaker 1: news tonight is a shocker and it should be highlighted
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  Speaker 1: within the media. And Bill Ritter sounds like he's gonna
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  Speaker 1: push through and still be on Eyewitness News, still be
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  Speaker 1: on ABC seven as he should be through all of this.
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  Speaker 1: But what a rough stretch, you know. Ernie Anasties was
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  Speaker 1: on ABC seven for many years before Fox five, and
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  Speaker 1: we lost him this year he passed, so ABC seven's
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  Speaker 1: family has had it rough. I'm sure this newsroom is devastated.
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  Speaker 1: Bill Ritterer was it was always there, was always there,
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  Speaker 1: and though I haven't gotten to meet him yet, I
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  Speaker 1: know through his personality on screen and his journalistic integrity,
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  Speaker 1: he just seems like one of the most decent TV
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  Speaker 1: personalities out there. And I pray for him and the
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  Speaker 1: entire Ridder family through all of this, and pray for
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  Speaker 1: the Eyewitness News family as well, because when you watch
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  Speaker 1: them for so many years I'm five, six and or eleven,
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  Speaker 1: you get used to that team. You get used to
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  Speaker 1: those anchors on your screen nightly, like you got used
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  Speaker 1: to Shata and Bill Ridder or Liz Chow and Bill Ridder.
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  Speaker 1: But as the years continue to go, so too does
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  Speaker 1: our voices of our childhood, both in retirement and unfortunately
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  Speaker 1: in passing. Let's face it, the media world has been
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  Speaker 1: rocked this year, whether it was the loss of Earning
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  Speaker 1: Nastist or loss of John Sterling, who was on WABC Radio.
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  Speaker 1: The media world has been rocked this year, whether it
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  Speaker 1: was Chuck Scarborough retiring a couple of years ago, these
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  Speaker 1: changes affect us. They are requiring of us to adapt
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  Speaker 1: to the new faces on our television screens and it's
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  Speaker 1: not an easy adaptation. But I love that he's gonna
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  Speaker 1: stick around and mentor the younger journalists in that building
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  Speaker 1: at ABC seven Eyewitness News. Prayers once again to the
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  Speaker 1: Riter family as he deals with a diagnosis of early
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  Speaker 1: onset Alzheimer's shocking, shocking, indeed, but we thank him for
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  Speaker 1: his dutiful and always integrity and his end point and
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  Speaker 1: his h well, I'm thinking of a different word, I
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  Speaker 1: guess ethical, but no, there's something deeper and his non
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  Speaker 1: biased but factual report the facts max kind of old
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  Speaker 1: school journalism that I hope he continues to fill that
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  Speaker 1: ABC seven newsroom with because they are Eyewitness News and
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  Speaker 1: they don't give us the bs, but the hard truths.
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  Speaker 1: And that's what Bill Ridter did every night at ABC
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  Speaker 1: seven Eyewitness News.