Lester Holt to step away from NBC Nightly News; one of many TV news changes

NBC’s veteran Lester Holt is stepping down as anchor of the network’s flagship “Nightly News” broadcast in the coming months.

Holt, who has been the face of “Nightly News” for a decade, won’t be leaving NBC altogether, however. In a memo to staff Monday, he said he would be expanding his work on NBC’s “Dateline,” taking on a full-time role.

The transition is expected to take place early this summer. No firm date or successor for “NBC Nightly News” has been named yet.

Holt, 65, joined NBC in 2000. He became the permanent anchor of “Nightly News” in 2015 — replacing Brian Williams after anchoring weekend editions of the show for eight years. And he has been the principal anchor of “Dateline” since September 2011.

NBC isn’t the only major news network to see a shift in its anchor line up this year. Holt’s announcement arrives just weeks after Norah O’Donnell’s final broadcast of “CBS Evening News,” where she had been the network’s top anchor since 2019. And, on NBC’s dayside programming, Hoda Kotb’s last day as one of the lead anchors for “Today” was Jan. 10.

MSNBC, which is set to no longer have any corporate connection to NBC News, is also seeing some changes to its prime time line up. In a Monday memo to staff, MSNBC’s new president Rebecca Kutler announced that Joy Reid would be leaving the network — marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s show, “The ReidOut.”



(AP Photo Manuel Balce Ceneta)