TORONTO - One of Canada's most familiar faces on television is going for a victory lap before stepping aside.

CTV's Lloyd Robertson says he will retire as the network's chief anchor in the middle of 2011.

"I have agreed to stay on for another TV season to make it 35 years at CTV," said Robertson. "But that will be the final year."

The 76-year-old made the announcement at the end of Thursday's broadcast of CTV National News.

Robertson said "the big news" was that CTV will be announcing his successor in Friday night's newscast.

"I'll be around for a while yet," he said.

Robertson will be sharing anchor duties with his successor over the next 12 months.

Once he leaves the anchor's chair Robertson will be moving on to other roles within the network, including a position as co-host of the current affairs series W5.

A statement from the network lauded Robertson's achievements over the years.

"Lloyd is a great newsman, an institution and the most trusted anchor in Canada; all of which is why he's the ratings king," said Ivan Fecan, president and chief executive officer of CTV Globemedia.

"We are all sorry to see him step down as anchor, but we are buoyed by the fact that he will remain in the CTV family for as long as he likes and I personally hope that will be a very long time."

In the same statement, Robertson offered an explanation for his departure.

"There comes a time and this is it," he said. "I want to leave a suitable period for my successor to have a smooth and seamless transition."

Robertson joined CTV in 1976 and has been chief anchor and senior editor since 1983.

He was voted Canada's most trusted news anchor by TV Guide readers for 11 years in a row and has won three Gemini awards.

Robertson has been in broadcasting for more than 50 years. He began his career in 1952 at CJCS radio in his hometown of Stratford, Ont., and then moved on to CJOY in Guelph, Ont., in 1953.

He then moved to CBC television in 1954 and became a national news anchor in 1970, a position he held until making the leap to CTV.

Besides anchoring the CTV nightly news, Robertson has been a fixture in the network's breaking news coverage, election specials and the relaying of the Olympic Winter Games in Sarajevo and Calgary.

Robertson's unflappable personality has been one of his trademarks throughout the years, as is his signoff to end the nightly newscasts.

Thursday's broadcast, despite the surprise announcement, was no different.

"So that's the kind of day it's been," he said. "I'm Lloyd Robertson."