Author: Erin Carlson

Barbara Walters will confirm reports of her retirement when she is good and ready.

The ABC News veteran and co-creator and host of The View said Monday on the chatfest: “There were many reports last week saying that I was retiring from ABC, and there was an assumption that I would be making an announcement today. … Here I am, and I have no announcement to make.”

[Cue generous audience applause.]

She continued: “But I do want to say this: that if and when I might have an announcement to make, I will do it in this program, I promise, and the paparazzi guys, you will be the last to know.”

Last Thursday, sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Walters, 83, is poised to retire in May 2014 and that she was expected to officially announce the news herself in the coming weeks.

She plans to remain on The View through next season, the show’s 17th, as it transitions from the departures of co-hosts Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

CNN has replaced re-airings of Anderson Cooper 360 in the 10 p.m. timeslot with (Get to) The Point, a week of special programming with a panel of guests including adman-pundit Donny Deutsch.

The Point panel will also feature ESPN columnist Rick Reilly, ESPN NFL analyst Jason Taylor and author Margaret Hoover.

CNN confirms that right now, The Point is a week of special programming. But sources at the network say that it is part of broader experimentation at the network aimed at revitalizing the lineup – and not just at 10 p.m.

Anderson Cooper, who’s currently under contract with CNN and denied last week that he was in line to replace Matt Lauer on Today, recently told The Hollywood Reporter that he expects new CNN chief Jeff Zucker to keep his program in its 8 p.m. time slot, though the 10 p.m. repeat is likely to go away. He also praised Zucker’s hands-on leadership style.

“[To] have somebody with Jeff’s experience not only as an executive and a manager, but as somebody whose sleeves are rolled up and has experience producing news programs, is fantastic,” said Cooper. “I’m in constant discussions with Jeff, emails going back and forth, and it’s really dynamic and it’s really exciting to be here at this time.”

Lesson to important TV anchors: be polite to the “little” people in the newsroom because one day they might call you out on Twitter in your darkest moment.

That’s not to say Matt Lauer treated his former intern, Mark Zinni, badly — there’s two sides to every story — but the beleaguered Today show co-host offered an apology on Twitter to Zinni, now an anchor and reporter at Fox’s Cleveland affiliate station, after he retweeted a follower who quoted him as saying Lauer was “not so nice.” Another quote: “I was just a young kid with a bright future ahead of me.”

Lauer’s response, from Tuesday: “huh? Always tried to be nice Mark. Sorry you didn’t think so. Hope you’re doing well.”

STORY: Inside the ‘Today’ Show Drama: 12 Revelations About the Matt Lauer-Ann Curry Debacle

On Thursday, the social media-loving Zinni was firing off a torrent of comments and replies regarding his Lauer tweet-versation, telling people to “be careful what you say on twitter, ha!” and stating: “For the record, i wasn’t ‘disgruntled’ … I had a great time in ’97!”

Lauer, meanwhile, is mired in all sorts of drama over his future on the NBC morning show, which has slipped in the ratings and fallen to No. 2 behind Good Morning America since Ann Curry was pushed out of the show last summer. Although Lauer has said the circumstances of Curry’s exit were mishandled, the public perception is that he was key in the decision to let her go.

As his reputation takes more hits, many media observers wonder how long Lauer, whose contract runs through 2014, will remain in the co-anchor’s chair alongside Curry replacement Savannah Guthrie. On Wednesday, NBC executives and sources close to Anderson Cooper denied reports that the CNN anchor had been approached about Lauer’s job: the network did reach out to Cooper, THR reported, but he is not in line to replace Lauer.

Twitter: @ErinLCarlson

Email: erin.carlson@thr.com