VETERAN Ch.7 anchor Bill Beutel will no longer anchor the station’s top-rated 11 p.m. newscast after tonight.

Sources say Beutel, 68, will tell viewers on tonight’s 6 p.m. newscast of his decision to step down.

He will continue as the solo anchor at 6 p.m.

Beginning Monday, longtime Ch.7 anchor Bill Ritter will co-anchor the late newscast with Diana Williams.

Insiders say that Beutel had the option of stepping down at 11 p.m. based on a new contract he signed earlier this year.

Sources say Beutel – who’s co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast for 13 years – reached his decision after returning from a recent vacation.

Ritter had been a weekend anchor along with Sandra Bookman, who will continue on Ch.7’s weekend newscasts.

Beutel, a local fixture, has been with Ch.7 since joining the ABC-owned station in 1962.

Along with the late Roger Grimsby – with whom he was paired for 16 years – Beutel helped inaugurate the station’s “Eyewitness News” format.