ABC network is moving "The View" talk show to the channel's news division from the entertainment side after 18 seasons on air. Representatives from ABC announced Thursday morning, saying the shift will help "The View" "fully draw on the vast resources of ABC News."

The daytime chat show has already had some major changes in terms of its hosts. Rosie O'Donnell, Rosie Perez and Nicole Wallace joined host Whoopi Goldberg at the beginning of this season. Ratings for the show have slipped in the past several years, down 10 percent in the last year among viewers ages 18-49. ABC's shift could give the show a needed boost.

Barbara Walters, a founder of the program, retired from on-camera involvement last summer, and co-host Jenny McCarthy also left after last season.

"Moving 'The View' to our non-fiction programming group now allows it to fully draw on the vast resources of ABC News and our team in New York, where the show is based right next door," ABC News president James Goldston said in a staff memo. "We couldn't be more thrilled to work with this terrific team."

This change from entertainment to news production is similar in nature to the move of "Good Morning America" in the mid-1990s, after being produced in the entertainment division for more than 20 years. Goldston was a major player in this shift as well.

New management among Disney/ABC's television executives is also the cause of the shakeup. Incoming president of the Disney/ABC television group, Ben Sherwood is responsible for "The View's" new production home. Sherwood will be replacing Anne Sweeney, who will leave her post early next year as Sherwood succeeds her.

Sherwood reportedly wanted increased involvement in changes with the talk show's revamp and hoped to merge ABC News and Daytime production into one entity.