Holt, who’s anchored the long-running program since 2015, first announced his departure in February. “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,” he wrote in a memo to staff announcing his decision, per The Hollywood Reporter.
At least he’s not going far. Holt will stay on with NBC in a full-time role at Dateline, where he will be “expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about,” as he wrote in his memo. He continued: “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. 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.”
Tom Llamas joined NBC from his previous home at ABC in 2021, and has spent the past four years hosting Top Story, a signature nighttime show. He’ll continue to host Top Story even with this new role. In his own statement, Llamas wrote that taking on NBC Nightly News was a “profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility.” He also lauded Holt as a “great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time.”
Holt’s final days come at a time when many of those venerated anchors have also been leaving their posts. 2025 has also seen the departures of Hoda Kotb, Jim Acosta, Chuck Todd, Joy Reid, and just today, Steve Doocy from the other side of the aisle at Fox & Friends. Last week, 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens also resigned, citing a loss of journalistic independence as the program continues to face both a massive $20 billion lawsuit from Donald Trump and an increased amount of oversight directly from Paramount, its parent company. We’ll see how Llamas does in the face of these mounting pressures that are affecting all journalists when he takes over the NBC Nightly News the podium this summer.
