Lester Holt, the NBC News anchor known for his ability to lead hours of breaking news coverage without pause, is finally ready for a breather.
The NBC News veteran plans to step away in early summer from his anchor duties on “NBC Nightly News,” which he has held since 2015. After that, he plans to devote himself full time to NBC News’ “Dateline,” which he has anchored since 2011.
“After 10 years, 17 if you include my years on the weekends, the time has come for me to step away from my role as anchor of ‘Nightly News.’ It has truly been the honor of a lifetime to work with each of you every day, keeping journalism as our true north and our viewers at the center of everything we do,” Holt said in a memo to staffers Monday. “But before we play the walk off music, I have another announcement. I’m excited to report I will be continuing as anchor of ‘Dateline NBC,’ but for the first time in a full time capacity whereby I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting ‘Dateline ‘hours on subjects I care deeply about. I am thrilled to be able to work more closely with my enormously talented friends at Dateline as the broadcast continues to grow and attract new viewers in new places.”
Holt’s exit is the latest in a parade of departures of senior TV-news personnel in recent months as the industry grapples with new economic pressures brought about by the rise of streaming, and contends with a harsh climate for media outlets in the early days of the second Trump administration. Chuck Todd, the veteran political director and “Meet the Press” moderator, left NBC News in January, and Andrea Mitchell, the longtime international affairs and politics reporter, recently ended her decades-long tenure on MSNBC’s daytime schedule. Hoda Kotb recently left her duties at NBC News’ “Today.”
NBC News isn’t the only news outlet parting ways with veterans. Neil Cavuto recently exited Fox News Channel, where he has held forth since 1996, and Chris Wallace parted ways with CNN after a short tenure.
Holt has been a calming presence at NBC News, where his unflappable and low-key demeanor helped the news division move forward after a period of tumult. He took over “Nightly” duties after his predecessor, Brian Williams, was removed following scrutiny of claims the latter made about the details of a reporting trip to Iraq.
Holt has tried to stretch new muscles, always conscious that traditional TV viewers, once wed to watching evening news after coming home from work on a set in the living or family room, were interacting with such content in different ways. “A year or two from now, people might be watching us on their toaster,” Holt told Variety in 2015, “and we’ve got to be there to put butter on the bread.”
(Excerpt) Read more in: Variety