Lester Holt, a well-known and trusted figure on “NBC Nightly News” for the last decade, will be stepping down from his anchoring duties this summer.
Despite this change, Holt will continue his journey with NBC News as the full-time host of “Dateline NBC,” the network’s primetime newsmagazine.
“Lester is truly the heart of our news organization,” stated Janelle Rodriguez, NBC News’ executive vice president of programming, in an internal memo on Monday. “He has earned immense respect from our newsroom, industry peers, and, most importantly, our viewers.”
Holt made history in 2015 by becoming the first African-American solo anchor of a weekday network evening newscast.
Even though traditional TV viewership has seen a decline in recent years, evening news programs on NBC, ABC, and CBS still manage to reach around 20 million viewers on a strong night.
In the fourth quarter of last year, ABC’s “World News Tonight” with David Muir led the pack with an average of 7.6 million viewers, while Holt’s “Nightly News” followed closely with 6.1 million. CBS Evening News, which recently transitioned to co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois after Norah O’Donnell’s departure, averaged 4.5 million viewers.
NBC has not yet announced Holt’s successor, but Tom Llamas, who anchors the network’s streaming newscast “Top Story” and often fills in for Holt, is seen as a strong candidate.
The announcement also confirmed that Holt has signed a long-term contract with NBC, allowing him to focus entirely on “Dateline.”
In a message to staff, Holt shared his excitement for this new chapter:
“I’m thrilled to continue as the anchor of Dateline NBC, now in a full-time capacity. This opportunity allows me to expand my role on the program and craft Dateline hours around stories I’m deeply passionate about.”
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