Lester Holt Is Leaving ‘NBC Nightly News’

Lester Holt is stepping down from his role on NBC Nightly News after a decade. The anchor and managing editor of the long-running broadcast announced on Monday, Feb. 24 that he would be exiting the show at the start of summer, but would remain in his full-time anchor role on Dateline.

“After 10 years, 17 if you include my years on the weekends, the time has come for me to step away from my role as anchor of Nightly News,” Holt said in a memo Monday to staffers, as per Variety. “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.”

Before playing the “walk off music,” however, Holt continued he was “excited to report” his continuing role at Dateline, “but for the first time in a full time capacity whereby I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about.” He went on, “I am thrilled to be able to work more closely with my enormously talented friends at Dateline as the broadcast continues to grow and attract new viewers in new places.”

Looking back on his career thus far, Holt wrote, “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.” He reflected, “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.”

NBC has yet to name Holt’s successor publicly. “He has led the network during some of the country’s most fraught and challenging times in the past decade,” Janelle Rodriguez, executive vice president of programming for NBC News, wrote in a message to staff. “Quite simply, Lester is the beating heart of this news organization.”

Holt was first named the anchor of Nightly News in June 2015 after eight years of weekend news broadcasts and 12 years of co-anchoring Weekend TODAY. Holt’s work has earned him various journalism awards throughout the years, including multiple Emmy Awards and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.