After a decade as an anchor on NBC Nightly News, Lester Holt has announced his departure from the news program. According to Variety, the NBC mainstay will step away in early summer and later transition to appearing on NBC News’ Dateline full-time.
“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 NBC staffers on 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.”
According to NBC News, Holt was bumped up to anchor of NBC Nightly News in June 2015 after over a decade co-anchoring the network’s Weekend Today program and leading weekend news for eight years. He’s been a principal anchor on Dateline since September 2011.
News of Holt’s departure comes after a slew of major network departures. Hoda Kotb left NBC News’ Today last month, as did Meet the Press moderator Chuck Todd and international affairs and politics reporter Andrea Mitchell, who departed MSNBC after decades at the network. Other notable exits include Neil Cavuto, who recently exited Fox News, where he had been since 1996, and Chris Wallace, who said goodbye to CNN after a few years.
Throughout his 10-year tenure at NBC Nightly News, Holt covered some of culture and politics’ biggest moments, including the pandemic, the political shifts of President Donald Trump, the Russo-Ukrainian War, the Israel-Hamas war, and more.
Most recently, Holt has co-anchored NBC’s coverage of election night, interviewed Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, and spearheaded a Dateline special about the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. In addition to Pezeshkian, Holt also interviewed Trump, former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Barack Obama, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and more.
As for who will replace Holt, NBC News has kept things hush-hush. Some contenders include Hallie Jackson, who was recently promoted to anchor of the network’s Sunday broadcast; Tom Llamas, who joined NBC News in 2021; and NBC News’ chief White House correspondent and weekend co-anchor of Today, Peter Alexander, who could also snag the gig.
Holt has been a part of NBCUniversal for 25 years, starting off at MSNBC in 2000, Variety reported. Before joining the network, he spent almost two decades working for TV stations owned by CBS.
