Walters “disappointed” with ABC

Barbara Walters, appearing on her afternoon talk show The View, indicated Monday that she may drop out of 20/20 when a window opens in her contract in December 2002 but remain on ABC. “I would not be leaving ABC, but can you believe I’ve already had other offers?” she remarked to the other panelists on The View. “You could never get rid of me, and I’ll still be doing specials,” she added. Walters said that she was “disappointed” with ABC’s decision to move 20/20 to Wednesday nights from its established time slot on Fridays, which it has occupied for 14 years. “So many of us felt that news is a public trust and should be respected as such, and the perception was that ABC doesn’t care about news. … We’re not thrilled about being moved here and moved there, you know, but that’s what the entertainment department decided.”