“Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts received a standing ovation as she accepted her George Foster Peabody Award Monday. Roberts is the first journalist since Walter Cronkite to get a standing ovation at the awards lunch, held annually at the Waldorf Astoria.

Roberts, pictured here with ABC News president Ben Sherwood, was honored for reports on her bone marrow transplant, which successfully raised awareness for Be the Match, an organization that registers potential bone marrow donors.

“As journalists we want to cover stories that cause a reaction that leads to action,” Roberts said in her speech. “We had no idea chronicling my journey would cause such a catalyst for action … many becoming bone marrow donors.”

Scott Pelley emceed the event. CBS News, PBS and CNN were among this year’s other winners.

As expected, ABC’s Barbara Walters announced her retirement on “The View” today. The show kicked off with Walters introducing a brief career retrospective, followed by her formal announcement:

“I have been on television–continuously–for over 50 years,” Walters said. “But in the Summer of 2014, a year from now, I plan to retire from appearing on television at all. It has been an absolutely joyful, rewarding, challenging, fascinating and occasionally bumpy ride, and I wouldn’t change a thing. I am perfectly healthy, this is my decision and I have been thinking about it for a long time. This is what I want to do.”

The audience in “The View” studio was filled with executives, including ABC News president Ben Sherwood (“Not only the best president of a news division but also the tallest,” Walters joked), ABC executive VP Vicki Dummer, ABC entertainment president Paul Lee, Disney-ABC TV group president Anne Sweeney and Disney CEO Bob Iger, who shared the story of when he first met Walters back in 1976.

He was a production assistant, and was asked to bring something to Walters’ dressing room. He wasn’t expecting her to be there, but she was, and she was very kind to him.

“From then on you called me Jim, my name is Bob,” he quipped, adding more seriously:

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ABC News anchor Barbara Walters is making it official: she will be retiring in 2014. We reported that Walters was set to retire in 2014 back in March (reporting which Walters tiptoed around), but now it is a done deal. Walters is expected to address her retirement on “The View” Monday.

Walters will retire from her on-camera duties at both ABC News and “The View” in the Summer of 2014, with a number of specials leading up to her retirement, including a career retrospective, a 20 years of “10 Most Fascinating” special and an Oscars special. She will remain as EP of “The View,” which she co-created.

“I am very happy with my decision and look forward to a wonderful and special year ahead both on ‘The View’ and with ABC News,” Walters says in a statement. “I created ‘The View’ and am delighted it will last beyond my leaving it.”

Walters is a TV legend, shattering glass ceilings and becoming one of the first TV news anchors to become truly public figures. She began her career at NBC’s “Today” in 1961, joining ABC News in what was a blockbuster deal in 1976.

“There’s only one Barbara Walters,” says ABC News President Ben Sherwood in a statement. “And we look forward to making her final year on television as remarkable, path-breaking and news-making as Barbara herself. Barbara will always have a home at ABC News and we look forward to a year befitting her brilliant career, filled with exclusive interviews, great adventures and indelible memories.”

Earlier this year Walters had a health scare after taking a fall in the British Ambassador’s residence, only to discover that she had contracted chicken pox. The illness kept her off of ABC and “The View” for a few months, and she returned in early March.

Don Ennis spent his last day at ABC News last week. But Friday morning, Dawn Ennis returned to the network, got her new ID (left) and went back to work at the assignment desk.

Ennis, a former local TV news producer, who’s has also had stints at CNN, CNBC and the “Today” show, has come out as transgender.

“Please understand: This is not a game of dress-up, or make-believe. It is my affirmation of who I now am and what I must do to be happy, in response to a soul-crushing secret that my wife and I have been dealing with for more than seven years, mostly in secret,” Ennis wrote on Facebook Friday.

“I have spent years fighting this, trying through dozens of tests and sheer willpower to overcome what doctors cannot cure nor reverse, or even satisfactorily explain. The New York Post says Ennis is shopping a book deal, which would delve into what may be behind the change:

Ennis said she suffers from an “unusual hormonal imbalance,” and blames her mother, who fed her female hormones as a child to prolong a commercial acting career. The hormones made the little boy look and sound young, but Ennis said she eventually developed breasts.

(GLAAD released a statement last night about the Post’s reporting, saying, “There was a bit of an overemphasis on clothing and appearance, but no incorrect pronouns were used, there were no jokes made at Ennis’ expense, and no anti-trans slurs in the headline – all things that have been hallmarks of the Post’s transgender coverage in the past.)

Ennis, 49, and a father of three, is now separated from her wife of 17 years.

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Last night Yahoo! held its “NewFront” event at the Best Buy Theater in Times Square, and the digital media company announced expanded content deals with its two big TV news partners, ABC News and CNBC.

ABC, of course, has a major deal with the company, particularly with “Good Morning America,” which has a digital presence powered by Yahoo!

“One of the big secrets to the success of Good Morning America is goodmorningamerica.com, powered by Yahoo!” said ABC News president Ben Sherwood on stage at the event.

Now, ABC is bringing what Sherwood called the “secret sauce” from its Yahoo! agreement to “ABC World News” and “Nightline.”

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• ABC News is strengthening its investigative unit, adding the NY Daily News‘ James Gordon Meek and the NY Post‘s Josh Margolin. ABC also promoted Aaron Katersky and Lee Ferran. More information after the jump.

• Fusion, the upcoming cable news channel from ABC and Univision, is adding Maritza Puello as the managing editor for Newscore. Puello joins Fusion from NY1 Noticias.

• NBC’s “Today” has announced one of its May sweeps stunts: a cross-country road trip. The five lead anchors will host the show from Hawaii, Yellowstone, Chicago, Orlando and a mystery city from may 20-24. Meanwhile, ABC’s “GMA” will get a “Dancing With The Stars” boost.

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Sandy Cannold, Robin Sproul, Sara Just

ABC News is making some changes in its Washington DC bureau and at “This Week,” according to a memo to staff this morning sent by ABC News president Ben Sherwood.

ABC “This Week” EP Sandy Cannold has been named EP and senior business editor of ABC News. Cannold, who joined ABC from CNBC last September, will now be responsible for the network’s business and economics reports.

ABC is also promoting a pair of executives in the DC bureau. Robin Sproul, who is celebrating 20 years as ABC’s DC bureau chief, will add responsibility of “This Week” as its executive in charge. Sara Just will become the deputy bureau chief, reporting to Sproul.

It isn’t clear who the next executive producer of “This Week” will be, though the show now originates mostly from New York, so it would not be surprising if the producer is based there. Having Sproul serve as executive in charge can keep the DC influence intact.

Sherwood’s memo is below.
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Last night the media elite gathered at the rooftop of The Park in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood to toast New York Times media reporter Brian Stelter‘s book Top of the Morning.

As the sun set over the Hudson River and the High Line park, guests sipped wine and nibbled on hummus, cheese and skewers of shrimp and scallops. NY1 traffic anchor Jamie Shupak, Stelter’s girlfriend, organized the affair.

“Matt Lauer and Ann Curry send their regrets,” Stelter quipped in his remarks. Indeed, NBC’s “Today” was not represented at the party, though there were plenty of notable TV news attendees.

ABC News seemed to have the largest contingent, led by president Ben Sherwood, and joined by senior VP of content and development James Goldston, and senior VP of communications Jeffrey Schneider. CBS News was represented by chairman Jeff Fager and “CBS This Morning” co-host Charlie Rose (pictured below). NY1′s morning news anchor Pat Kiernan was there, as was CNN “Piers Morgan Live” EP (and former “Today” EP) Jonathan Wald. Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley, New York Post publisher Jesse Angelo and Gawker founder Nick Denton were all spotted in the crowd.
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This morning ABC News launched a new social TV app it calls the “Social Soundtracker” at a press conference in New York. The app ties into ABC News programming, and may expand to other programs down the line. Lost Remote has more on the service.

Separately, we also heard that Fusion, the new cable news channel launching from ABC and Univision, is now likely to launch in December, rather than the September date that was floated a few months back. We saw ABC News president Ben Sherwood, who said that the channel is still on track to launch this year, though it will likely be after the Summer ends. Officially, ABC and Univision have only said that the channel was expected to launch “in the second half” of 2013.

It was a year ago this week that ABC’s “Good Morning America” learned it had unseated “Today” as the leading network morning show. While “GMA” has gone on to win most weeks since, the race is still tight. That’s why ABC News president Ben Sherwood tells his team to play like they’re still behind.

In a B&C cover story, Sherwood tells Andrea Morabito, “My message to them repeatedly is when you knock the champs down who’ve been champs for 16-17 years, they get back up and they throw even tougher punches.”

“GMA” Senior EP Tom Cibrowski doesn’t think the morning shifts are over yet. He’s spent most of his 10 years with the “GMA” in “Today’s” shadow: “I think if you spend a long time at No. 2, you build those genes, the DNA becomes part of your structure that you’ll never lose, you’ll never stop being scrappy, you’ll never stop looking at your show as coming from behind.”