[7] Vieira served as the original moderator and co-host of ABC's daytime talk show The View from its debut on August 11, 1997, until June 9, 2006.

As moderator, she was responsible for opening and closing each of the show's live episodes, introducing "Hot Topics," guiding conversations, and breaking to commercials.

[8]In August 2006, Vieira told Time that she hasn't watched The View since she left the show, except the episode when Star Jones announced she was leaving.

Time added a clarification to its website, saying "[Vieira] assures Time that in no way were her comments meant to be insensitive or derogatory..."[10] Vieira became the first host of the American syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on September 16, 2002;[11] prior to that, American audiences had known it as a primetime show on ABC hosted by Regis Philbin.

Rosie O'Donnell (who would later succeed Vieira on The View) was originally offered to host the syndicated version, but rejected it almost immediately.

ABC originally offered Vieira hosting duties on the syndicated Millionaire to sweeten one of her re-negotiations for The View.

After O'Donnell declined the opportunity to host the syndicated version, Vieira was the one that the team settled on, because she had the above-mentioned qualities.

[17] Seven and three-quarter years later, she would even turn the tables on Philbin himself with her surprise appearance on the finale of the show's 10th anniversary primetime revival on August 23, 2009—hosting its final segment while giving him the opportunity to answer one question in order to win $50,000 for his selected organization, Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx.

[18] On January 10, 2013, Vieira announced that after eleven seasons with the syndicated Millionaire, throughout which she had hosted more than 1,800 episodes and offered a vast multitude of contestants a combined total of over $70,000,000,[19] she would be leaving the show as part of an effort to focus on other projects in her career.

As part of her contract with Millionaire, Vieira agreed not to appear on Today during hours that would conflict with the airing of the game show on competing stations.

In January 2013, she filled in for Kathie Lee Gifford on the fourth hour of Today, appearing alongside Hoda Kotb, and she reported the story Inconceivable on Dateline NBC.

[24] Vieira co-hosted the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with Matt Lauer, and was slated to provide coverage during the two weeks of the games.

On February 14, 2014, she became the first woman to solo anchor NBC's Olympics prime time coverage, alternated with Lauer while covering for an ailing Bob Costas.

[29][30] Vieira returned to daytime TV in the fall of 2019 as host of the syndicated game show 25 Words or Less from Fox Television Stations.

Her departure from the show garnered headlines, as a national debate started to take place about whether women could balance both family and career.

She turned down opportunities to co-host ABC's Good Morning America and CBS's The Early Show when her children were young.

Vieira discusses her family and career decisions in the book Divided Lives: The Public and Private Struggles of Three Accomplished Women by Elsa Walsh.