Brit Hume will step down as Fox News Channel’s main political anchor at the end of the year when his contract expires. He will not leave the network completely but get a part-time role at Fox.

Hume, 65, will continue to work as a panelist on “Fox News Sunday” and also work at Fox News Channel during special events, The Washington Post informed Tuesday. He will also have an office in the Washington bureau.

Hume’s departure as anchor of the 6 p.m. newscast “Special Report,” will be one of the most dramatic changes Fox’s schedule went through since the channel’s inauguration almost 12 years ago. Hume was one of the first and most important anchors recruited by Roger Ailes before Fox News began in 1996. The network’s stability helped it to rise to the top of the cable news ratings.

In the second quarter of 2008, Hume’s show “Special Report” attracted 1.34 million viewers a night, becoming Fox’s fourth most popular program.

Hume’s future role is currently being negotiated, a Fox spokeswoman said, but she refused to disclose details. Neither Hume nor his agent Bob Barnett would discuss the matter.

Hume’s decision was not a surprise, as he told reporters, two years ago, that he was considering to retire from his post when his contract expired. He told the New York Observer at the time that he had been doing this for too long and he was not enthusiastic about it anymore.

“Look, journalism is a lot about enthusiasm. You have to have it. I find I am no longer as interested in politics as I was,” Hume told the Observer.

Before joining Fox News in 1996, Hume was a correspondent for ABC News, covering the White House and other Washington assignments for 23 years. He also worked at United Press International , the Baltimore Evening Sun and the Hartford Times.