Breaking: TVDecoder reports Brit Hume, 65, will be stepping down as anchor of the network's 6pmET program Special Report after the election, but will remain with the network. TVDecoder's Brian Stelter talked with "three people close" to Hume and reports:

Mr. Hume, 65, has expressed an interest in "reducing his role" but will likely remain with Fox News as a panelist on "Fox News Sunday," two of the people said. The people requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of his contract negotiations, which are ongoing.

WaPo's Howard Kurtz writes, Hume will "continue with Fox in a senior statesman role, not unlike that of Tom Brokaw at NBC, for roughly 100 days a year."

In his new role, Hume would be a senior political analyst, anchor special events, serve as a panelist on "Fox News Sunday" and occasionally substitute for the host, Chris Wallace. Hume has made no secret that he would probably retire when his contract expires at the end of 2008. That became even more likely when his wife, Kim, stepped down as Fox's Washington bureau chief in 2006.