Diane Sawyer will leave as anchor of ABC’s “World News” in September and will be replaced by David Muir, ABC announced Wednesday.
Sawyer, who’s anchored “World News” for nearly five years, will remain with ABC News — working on other projects — and Muir will also keep his job on “20/20,” which he co-anchors with Elizabeth Vargas.
Muir has been eyeing the job for some time, according to the New York Post’s Richard Johnson, and will officially replace Sawyer on Sept. 2.
ABC also announced that “Good Morning America” and “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos has been promoted to chief anchor, ABC News. He will remain on “GMA” and “This Week” while becoming ABC News’ lead reporter for breaking news. He will also lead ABC News’ election coverage starting with the midterms this fall.
ABC News insiders stressed that Sawyer had wanted to make the change for some time.
“After wonderful years at ‘World News’ I decided it is time to move to a new full time role at ABC News,” she said in a statement. “I’ll be joined by an incredible team of journalists dedicated to enterprise reporting, innovative approaches to breaking news and new ways of thinking about big issues and events around the world.”
Muir was namced co-anchor of “20/20” last year and has subbed for Sawyer many times on “World News.”