Byron Pitts is replacing Dan Abrams as a co-anchor of ABC’s “Nightline.”
Abrams signed off as co-anchor Thursday night.
Pitts — who’s been chief national correspondent for ABC News since 2013 — joins Dan Harris and Juju Chang on the “Nightline” anchor desk starting Friday night (12:30 a.m./Ch. 7).
“Earlier this year Dan came to talk to me about taking on a new role at ABC News and returning to his true passion — running the websites and company he founded, Abrams Media,” ABC News president James Goldston said in a statement.
Abrams will remain at ABC News as its chief legal analyst.
“We count on him to provide legal context and scrutiny to important stories that capture national attention,” Goldston said.
Pitts joined ABC News in 2013 after a long run at CBS News, where he was a correspondent for the “CBS Evening News” and contributed to “60 Minutes.”
“Nightline” moved to the 12:30 a.m. timeslot in January 2013 to accommodate the move of “Jimmy Kimmel Live” to 11:35.
It averaged a winning 1.8 million viewers in the recently concluded November sweeps.