OAN Staff James Meyers
11:21 AM – Monday, February 24, 2025
“NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt announced on Monday that he will be leaving the network’s nightly broadcast.
However, the 65-year-old will still remain with NBC in a full-time role at “Dateline,” where he has been the top anchor for almost 15 years — according to a memo shared with employees at the network.
Holt noted that he would continue his evening role until “the start of summer.”
“As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has,” Holt wrote in a note to staffers. “What an amazing ride.”
Lester took over the helm of “NBC Nightly News” in 2015 as the network faced massive controversy. It was revealed that the previous anchor, Brian Williams, had falsely claimed that he was aboard a helicopter that was shot down in Iraq.
Williams claimed that he was in an Army helicopter that was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade while reporting on the Iraq War. However, veterans continuously questioned his story, and he eventually admitted to “misremembering” the situation. NBC News suspended Williams for six months without pay, and then permanently removed him from “NBC Nightly News.” Following this, Holt was handed the “NBC Nightly News” slot after it was decided that Williams would move onto MSNBC.
Meanwhile, NBC’s nightly broadcast brought in an estimated 6.7 million viewers in mid-February, falling beyond ABC’s “World News Tonight” with David Muir — which brought in 8.3 million, according to Nielsen. CBS’ “Evening News,” which is an overhaul situation after parting ways with anchor Norah O’Donnell, brought in 4.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
Holt “has led the network during some of the country’s most fraught and challenging times in the past decade,” Janelle Rodriguez, NBC News’ executive vice president of programming, wrote in a note to staffers.
“Quite simply, Lester is the beating heart of this news organization,” she added.
Tom Llamas, a senior national correspondent, is currently a rumored replacement for Holt. Llamas has been waiting for Holt to retire in what looked like a “slow-motion coup d’état” at 30 Rock, according to The Ankler.
The departing Holt joins other journalists at NBC since the start of the year — including “Today” show host Hoda Kotb and Chuck Todd from the program “Meet the Press.”
This also comes after MSNBC just recently canceled host Joy Reid’s talk show on Sunday, as well as canceling multiple shows anchored by Ayman Mohyeldin, Katie Phang and Jonathan Capehart.
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