Lester Holt, the longtime anchor of NBC Nightly News, will step down from the role this summer after nearly a decade at the helm. However, he will continue as the full-time host of Dateline NBC, the network’s primetime newsmagazine.
“Quite simply, Lester is the beating heart of this news organization,” NBC News executive vice president of programming Janelle Rodriguez said in an internal memo on Monday. “He’s earned deep respect and reverence from our newsroom, industry colleagues, and most importantly, viewers.”
Holt made history in 2015 when he became the first African-American solo anchor of a weekday network evening newscast. Despite a decline in broadcast TV audiences, NBC Nightly News remains a significant player in the media landscape, drawing millions of viewers each night.
ABC’s World News Tonight, anchored by David Muir since 2014, led the ratings with an average of 7.6 million viewers in the fourth quarter of last year. NBC Nightly News followed with 6.1 million viewers, while CBS Evening News, which recently transitioned to co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, averaged 4.5 million viewers.
NBC has not yet named Holt’s successor, but Tom Llamas, the anchor of Top Story, NBC’s nightly streaming newscast, and a frequent fill-in for Holt, is considered a strong contender for the position.
Holt has signed a new long-term contract with NBC, shifting his focus to Dateline NBC. In a memo to staff, he shared his excitement about taking on a full-time role with the program, stating, “For the first time in a full-time capacity, I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about.”
