President of ABC News resigns

Leah Zanolla | Posted: Sep 7, 2010 | Updated: Oct 19, 2014 - 9:25:27 AM

The Walt Disney Co. is going to be searching for a new president of ABC News. After 13 years on the job, David Westin, 57, resigned yesterday saying, "There are some other things I want to do professionally. I'm announcing my decision now so that I can pursue those possibilities." Westin plans to stay with the company through the end of the year to help in the process of finding his replacement.

Westin has spent much of 2010 working to reduce the budget of ABC News after a decline in viewership. ABC's evening news show is second in terms of viewship among the three network news channels. Topping ABC's 7.58 million viewers is "NBC Nightly News" with 8.58 million viewers.

Anne Sweeney, co-chair of Disney Media Networks, provided an email statement, "For the past 13 years, David Westin proved himself a tireless advocate for ABC News. He has positioned us for great success going forward."