No, Bill Ritter and Liz Cho Have Not Anchored Together for 23 Years — The Real Number Is Closer to 19-20
“Bill Ritter has been anchoring alongside Liz Cho for 23 years”
The argument in brief
The claim that Bill Ritter and Liz Cho have co-anchored at WABC-TV for 23 years overstates their partnership by several years. While Ritter joined the station in 1998, Liz Cho didn't arrive until around 2004-2005, putting their time together at roughly 19-20 years as of 2024. The confusion likely comes from mixing up Ritter's total time at the station with the length of their actual partnership.
Why it spread
People have genuine affection for familiar local news anchors, and feel-good anniversary tributes get shared quickly and warmly. When a big, impressive number is attached to a beloved duo, almost no one stops to do the math — it just feels right, and that's enough for most people to pass it along.
The claim is that Bill Ritter and Liz Cho have been anchoring together at WABC-TV Eyewitness News for 23 years. That's not quite right — and the gap isn't trivial. The evidence points to their partnership being closer to 19-20 years, not 23.
Here's where the numbers come from. According to WABC-TV's own records, Bill Ritter joined the station as a co-anchor in 1998. That gives him a tenure of over 25 years at the station as of 2024 — an impressive run by any measure. But Ritter's early years at WABC were not spent alongside Liz Cho.
Liz Cho came to WABC from WCVB in Boston around 2004 to 2005, according to both the New York Post and industry publication Broadcasting & Cable. That means the two have shared the anchor desk for roughly 19 to 20 years — still a remarkable partnership, but meaningfully shorter than 23 years.
To be fair to the claim, the core idea is right: these two are long-tenured, well-matched anchors who have built something rare in local TV. The error isn't about the spirit of the tribute — it's about the specific number, which is off by three to four years. That's not a rounding error; it's a significant chunk of time.
This kind of mistake is worth flagging because milestone figures get repeated and hardened into fact. Once a number like '23 years' appears in a headline or a social post, it gets copied without anyone checking whether it lines up with basic career timelines. The fix is simple: Ritter's start date at WABC and Cho's arrival from Boston are both verifiable, and they don't add up to 23 years together.
Sources
- WABC-TV / Eyewitness News
Bill Ritter joined WABC-TV Eyewitness News as a co-anchor in 1998, making his tenure at the station over 25 years as of 2024.
- New York Post
Liz Cho joined WABC-TV around 2004-2005, meaning she and Ritter have anchored together for approximately 18-20 years, not 23.
- LinkedIn / Broadcasting & Cable
Industry records indicate Liz Cho came to WABC from WCVB Boston around 2004, which would place her partnership with Ritter at roughly 19-20 years as of 2024, not 23.