Diane Sawyer signed off as anchor of ABC's "World News" Wednesday, Aug. 27, after anchoring the network's flagship nightly news show since December 2009.

"I just want you to know what a deep privilege it has been to sit in the anchor chair at 'World News' these years... where Peter Jennings created a signature of such curiosity and courage," the 68-year-old Glasgow, Kentucky-born TV veteran started her sign-off, according to E! News.

"It has been wonderful to be the home port for the brave and brilliant forces of ABC News around the world-and to feel, every single night, that you and I were in a conversation about the world together," she added.

But Sawyer, who received a Peabody Award for her work on "A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains" in 2009, assured her viewers that she is not going anywhere as it was previously announced that she will be focusing on interviews and specials for the network, according to People.

"I am not slowing down, but gearing up in a new way, already at work on some of the stories that take you into the real lives around us, the ones we rarely get to see," she said.

She also gave a nod to ABC News managing editor David Muir, who will be taking over starting Sept. 2.

"I just want to say to everyone watching, you have seen David Muir at this desk...You know his command and commitment," Sawyer said of Muir who has been her main substitute anchor and has consistently matched or even surpassed her rating, according to The Daily Beast.

"It has been an honor sitting across from you," responded Muir.

Speaking to TV Guide, Muir revealed that he idolizes Jennings.

"Peter Jennings was the James Bond of evening news, and I always wanted to be that," Muir told TVGuide from his office at ABC News Headquarters in Manhattan. "His evening news was really a conversation with America, and I hope that's something I can achieve. Peter traveled the world and, in moments of crisis, was able to synthesize these complicated stories into very relatable ones."