Lester Holt Is Stepping Away From NBC Nightly News
Lester Holt will no longer anchor NBC Nightly News—the flagship program he has led for the past decade. Instead, the veteran journalist will concentrate solely on hosting Dateline, as confirmed by NBC News’ Executive Vice President of Programming, Janelle Rodriguez per Daily Mail. This change comes ten years after Holt took over full-time from longtime anchor Brian Williams. NBC has yet to announce a successor for Nightly News, even as its sister network MSNBC recently cancelled Joy Reid’s show, The ReidOut.
Holt will continue in his role until early summer.
“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,” Holt wrote in a note Monday to “Nightly” and “Dateline” staffers per NBC News. “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.”
During his decade at the helm of “Nightly News,” Holt reported on some of the era’s most pivotal moments, from President Donald Trump’s political ascent and the COVID-19 pandemic to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the October 7, 2023 attack in Israel, and the ensuing conflict in Gaza.
More recently, he co-anchored the network’s election night coverage, journeyed to Iran for an exclusive interview with President Masoud Pezeshkian, and hosted a “Dateline” special focusing on the catastrophic 2025 wildfires in Los Angeles as reported by NBC News.