Lester Holt announced on Monday that he will be stepping down as anchor for NBC Nightly News after 10 years.
Videos by Suggest
According to Deadline, Holt is expected to continue his role on the show until early summer. He will then take on a full-time position at the newsmagazine Dateline. Holt became the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News after Brian Williams’ suspension.
“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,” Lester Holt shared in a memo to staffers. “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.”
Despite the departure, Holt stated he thinks fondly of NBC Nightly News. “A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News, and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history. 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. What an amazing ride.”
He then added, “I plan to continue anchoring Nightly through around the start of summer. As we get closer, I’ll, of course, firm up the date and keep all of you in the loop. In the meantime, to my Nightly friends, I look forward to sharing some banana pudding as is our send-off tradition!”
A replacement anchor has not been officially announced.
Broadcasting News Experiences Some Programming Shakeups
Lester Holt’s Nightly News departure comes just as broadcasting news experiences some programming shakeups.
At CBS, Norah O’Donnell stepped down as anchor of the CBS Evening News. The network is currently revamping the program, making John Dickerson and Maurice DiBois dual anchors.
Other network anchors, including Chuck Todd from NBC News, Jim Acosta from CNN, and Hoda Kotb from Today, have also stepped down from their roles.