BEUTEL
William

William Charles Beutel1 was an American television reporter, journalist, and anchor. He was best known for working over four decades with the American Broadcasting Company, spending much of that time anchoring Eyewitness News for WABC-TV in New York City.

He also was an ABC radio network newscaster before ABC Radio split into four networks in January 1968. After the split he reported on the American Contemporary Network and occasionally substituted for Paul Harvey, while his Eyewitness News partner Roger Grimsby presented a daily afternoon radio newscast on the American Entertainment Network.

Career

Beutel joined ABC in October 1962, working as both an ABC News reporter and an anchor for WABC-TV, the network’s New York flagship station. At the time, WABC-TV was trying to build on the ratings momentum of Report to New York, a newscast anchored by Scott Vincent. The station expanded the concept into a one-hour 6 p.m. program titled The Big News, though the format initially struggled to find a strong audience.

During his early years at WABC, Beutel interviewed many major public figures, including Malcolm X, the African American Muslim minister and black nationalist leader. In April 1968, Beutel stepped away from his WABC duties for two years to work full-time for ABC News as its London bureau chief.

In 1970, Beutel received a call from Al Primo, who had become WABC’s news director after Beutel’s departure. Primo had introduced the Eyewitness News format, which emphasized reporters presenting their own stories directly to viewers, after bringing the concept from KYW-TV in Philadelphia. He wanted Beutel back in New York to co-anchor with Roger Grimsby, whom Primo had hired from KGO-TV as WABC’s lead anchor.

Beutel returned to WABC-TV in September 1970 as Grimsby’s co-anchor on Eyewitness News. Their partnership lasted 16 years and became one of the defining anchor teams in New York local television, often competing with WCBS-TV for the top position in the ratings.

In January 1975, ABC News reassigned Beutel to AM America, a new morning program he co-hosted with Stephanie Edwards. The show was ABC’s attempt to challenge NBC’s Today and CBS’s morning lineup, but it lasted only ten months.

On November 3, 1975, AM America was replaced by Good Morning America, originally hosted by David Hartman and Nancy Dussault. Beutel then returned to WABC-TV and Eyewitness News, while continuing some network work as anchor of ABC’s brief late newscasts on Saturday and Sunday nights during the late 1970s.

The reunited Grimsby-Beutel team kept Eyewitness News strong through the mid-1980s. After a ratings decline and Grimsby’s dismissal in 1986, WABC-TV quickly returned to first place. Beutel later anchored the 6 p.m. broadcast with Kaity Tong and John Johnson in a rotating arrangement, before Johnson became his regular co-anchor in 1988.

In 1989, Beutel returned to the 11 p.m. Eyewitness News after Ernie Anastos left for WCBS. He first anchored with Kaity Tong, then with Susan Roesgen after Tong’s 1991 departure. In 1992, Diana Williams replaced Roesgen as his co-anchor.

Beutel began anchoring the 6 p.m. newscast solo in 1990, a role he held until Williams joined him in 1999. He also became known for ending broadcasts with short commentaries on the day’s major issues.

In 1999, Beutel left the 11 p.m. newscast and was succeeded by ABC News correspondent Bill Ritter. Ritter also replaced him on the 6 p.m. broadcast in 2001. During the final phase of his career, Beutel served as a senior correspondent and occasional commentator, continuing his closing remarks in a segment called Final Thought.

Beutel retired from television in February 2003 after 37 years as a WABC-TV anchor. At the time, he held the longest anchoring run in New York television history, later surpassed by Rafael Pineda of WXTV and Chuck Scarborough of WNBC. His signature sign-off was: Good luck, be well.