Lester Holt is ending his run as anchor of “NBC Nightly News” this summer, making him the latest high-profile news personality to exit a role.
Holt, 65, told staff Monday of his plans to depart the signature broadcast of NBC News. He will remain in the division as anchor of its true crime newsmagazine “Dateline,” where he will have an expanded role.
“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,” Holt wrote in a note obtained by The Times. “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.”
NBC News has not selected a successor to Holt. Tom Llamas, who is the anchor of the evening newscast on streaming service NBC News Now, has been considered a leading candidate for the role.
Holt will be the second evening news anchor to step away from the job in recent months. Norah O’Donnell left the “CBS Evening News” in January after a five-year run.
While Holt’s exit is being presented as his decision, it’s likely NBC News management is looking to bring down the multimillion salary that has come with the job. Hoda Kotb, a favorite host at NBC’s “Today,” left in January after the network attempted to reduce her salary in a new deal.
Holt stepped into the “NBC Nightly News” role in June 2015 after Brian Williams was suspended after lying about his reporting on the Iraq war. Holt had been the weekend “NBC Nightly News” anchor and Williams’ primary substitute. He provided a smooth transition, with the program running either first or second in the 25-to-54 age group that advertisers want to reach with news programming.
His lengthy broadcast resume includes a 14-year run in Chicago, where Holt became a local TV news fixture before rising to national prominence.
In 1986, WBBM-Ch. 2 hired Holt away from WCBS-TV in New York amid a boycott of the CBS-owned Chicago station by Operation PUSH over the demotion of longtime anchorman Harry Porterfield. Operation PUSH celebrated Holt’s hiring as a victory, while the station denied it was related to the boycott.
Holt found his footing as a popular and respected news anchor in Chicago.
In 1996, Holt was named to replace legendary anchorman Bill Kurtis at the helm of the 10 p.m. newscast alongside Linda MacLennan at WBBM-Ch.2. Four years later, Holt left for cable news network MSNBC.
Holt’s Chicago broadcast legacy lives on through his son Stefan Holt, who grew up in Lincoln Park and has been co-anchoring the 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts on WMAQ-Ch. 5 since 2020.
The Tribune’s Robert Channick contributed.
