NBC Nightly News names Lester Holt's successor

Top Story anchor Tom Llamas will take over the desk when Holt departs.

By Emma Keates | March 5, 2025 | 4:45pm

Photo: Nathan Congleton/NBC

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NBC Nightly News names Lester Holt's successor

At long last, a story about a broadcast news anchor actually being hired for a new position, rather than stepping down or being fired from their old one. After a little over a week, NBC has named longtime Nightly News host Lester Holt’s successor. (It took them four whole seasons to do that on Succession!) Per NBC News, Current Top Story anchor Tom Llamas will take over hosting duties at an unspecific date—whenever Holt’s final show is announced. Hosting Nightly News is a “profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility,” Llamas said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the world class journalists at Nightly News and Top Story to bring viewers the most important stories every night.”

Holt has anchored the show for the past decade, ever since Brian Williams’ departure in 2015. He announced that he would be stepping down in February, but he won’t be going far. With Nightly News duties off his plate, Holt will be transitioning to a full-time role at Dateline, where he’ll craft “hours on subjects I care deeply about,” as he wrote in his own statement at the time. “Lester Holt is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time,” Llamas said of his colleague. “Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”

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Llamas has been a rumored contender after making the jump from ABC to NBC in 2021, Deadline suggests. He currently anchors Top Story, a signature program that airs immediately after Nightly News. He will continue to host the show even after taking over the new post, where he will also hold the title of managing editor. “Tom has the winning combination of journalistic excellence, passionate storytelling and unyielding integrity—all characteristics that have long been trademarks of NBC Nightly News,” Janelle Rodriguez, Executive Vice President of Programming, wrote of Llamas in a memo to staff, per NBC News.

Llamas is one of the few broadcast news anchors to actually boost his job security in recent months. This year has already seen Trump critic Jim Acosta part ways with his longtime home at CNN, and Llamas’ former NBC colleague Chuck Todd do the same a few days later. One day before Holt stepped down, MSNBC also cancelled Joy Reid‘s evening news show, TheReidOut. In the wake of all this shakeup, Nightly News seems keen to expand their base. In her statement, Rodriguez lauded Llamas as “instrumental in growing NBC News NOW into the leading streaming news network, helping to introduce NBC News to a new generation of viewers.”