Lester Holt’s Final Day as ‘NBC Nightly News’ Anchor Revealed

The departure date for one of television journalism’s most respected figures has been confirmed. According to Deadline, veteran broadcaster Lester Holt will conclude his tenure behind the NBC Nightly News desk on Friday, May 30, marking the end of a significant chapter in network news history.

His replacement, Tom Llamas, is scheduled to assume the prestigious position the following Monday, June 2. Llamas will inherit both Holt’s on-air responsibilities and his title of managing editor, while continuing his current role hosting Top Story, NBC News Now’s signature evening program that airs weeknights at 7 p.m. Eastern Time, Deadline notes.

Holt initially announced his intention to step down in February through a heartfelt message to network colleagues, expressing that it had “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.”

Though departing from the nightly broadcast, Holt isn’t leaving the NBCUniversal family. He will transition to focusing exclusively on his role at Dateline NBC, where he has served as principal anchor since 2011. In his February announcement, Holt mentioned plans for “expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about.”

Holt’s broadcasting career with NBCUniversal extends back to 2000, when he initially joined MSNBC before transferring to the main network. He became the anchor of Weekend Today in 2003 following David Bloom’s passing, later adding weekend editions of Nightly News to his responsibilities in 2007. His promotion to weekday anchor in 2015 represented a historic milestone as he became the first Black journalist to solo anchor a major network evening newscast.

The transition comes amid a challenging landscape for traditional evening news programs. Deadline points out that ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir maintains ratings dominance, while CBS recently replaced Norah O’Donnell with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, implementing format changes that emphasized storytelling over headlines, though viewership numbers have declined compared to the previous year.

Llamas, who rejoined NBC in 2021 after a stint with ABC, brings established credentials to the position. In his statement accepting the role, Llamas characterized taking on NBC Nightly News as a “profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility,” while praising Holt as “a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time.”

This anchor change coincides with broader shifts across television news. The year 2025 has already witnessed the departures of numerous prominent journalists, including Hoda Kotb, Jim Acosta, Chuck Todd, and Joy Reid. The industry faces mounting pressures, as evidenced by last week’s resignation of 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens amid concerns about diminishing editorial independence.