Longtime “NBC Nightly News” host Lester Holt revealed why he’s stepping away from the anchor desk — but remaining at the Peacock Network, saying he “still has gas in the tank.”
In a sitdown with Variety, the 66-year-old newsman reflected on his 22-year career at the network, his fast-approaching exit from the chair once occupied by Tom Brokaw at the end of the month and his desire to return to his reporting roots at NBC’s “Dateline.”
“It wasn’t like one moment of epiphany,” Holt said of his decision to exit the anchor chair after 10 years. “I never saw myself doing this job forever.”
Holt said he made up his mind about his future after a long conversation with his wife.
“I decided that I needed to come off the ‘Nightly’ gig, but I still had gas in the tank,” he said
Holt’s departure from evening news didn’t come as a surprise to media insiders. The hiring of Tom Llamas, a popular ABC News anchor, in 2021 had sparked much speculation about succession plans.
Llamas, 45, will takeover for Holt on June 2.
Viewers can still catch Holt on the newsmagazine program “Dateline,” where the veteran journalist has had a presence over the past 15 years.
The assignment to move to the show full time, Holt said, provides him more freedom than his anchoring gig.
“We’re still doing journalism, but these are hour and two-hour shows we’re doing,’” he said. “Some of the stories you’ll see me doing will be months in the making.”
Holt said he is looking forward to flex “some different news muscles” with the fulltime reporting position.
“I once spent two nights in prison for a ‘Dateline’ (episode) and I’ve done heartbreaking stories on the asthma crisis and the economy,” he said. “I’ve done a lot of things that are outside of what many would think is a traditional ‘Dateline,’ but I want to do more of those, and I want to be able to tell a producer, ‘Yes, I’ll be there for that interview next week,’ because I won’t be jumping after whatever is happening for ‘Nightly.’”
NBC execs are hoping that Holt can give “Dateline” a jolt in its next-and-neck fight with rival ABC newsmagazine “20/20.”
In the first quarter, “Dateline” reeled in 4 million total viewers, while 20/20 garnered 3.97 million.
Similarly, they are hoping the changing of the guard on the evening news might help the second-place “Nightly News” catch ABC’s “World News with David Muir.”
“World News” has a firm lead, reeling in 8.1 million total viewers in the first quarter of this year, compared to 6.6 million for “Nightly News.”
“CBS Evening News,” which shook up its anchor lineup earlier this year, ditching Norah O’Donnell for John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, averaged 4.6 million viewers.
Holt, who began his career in 1981 at CBS, joined NBC News in 2003 where he held various anchoring and reporting roles.
He was named “Nightly News” anchor in 2015, following the demotion of Brian Williams.
Reflecting on how “Nightly” retains and grows viewership, Holt said: “Our biggest challenge, really, is being where viewers are going to be — not where they are today — where they’re going to be in two weeks, in a month from now. And I think that’s what all of us in this industry right now are focused on. We firmly believe there’s always going to be an audience for a fact-based, tell-it-like-it-is, smart-analysis kind of a broadcast.”
“Nightly” will continue, and so will Holt.
“People say it’s been a great run,” he concluded. “It’s like, well, I’m still running.”
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