WASHINGTON — Longtime NBC anchor Lester Holt announced Monday that he would be stepping down as anchor of “NBC Nightly News” this summer.
Holt, 65, has been the anchor and managing editor of the program for over a decade. He was put on the weekday anchor desk in 2015 after spending eight years as the weekend anchor for “Nightly News.”
According to NBC, he will continue to have a full time role as the primary anchor for “Dateline,” which he has also anchored for nearly 15 years.
The news of Holt’s departure from NBC’s flagship evening news show was disclosed in a memo to network staff Monday morning. It’s unclear if Holt will address his upcoming departure on Monday evening’s show.
The memo included a message from Holt about his time leading the newscast, where he called it a “true privilege” to have worked on Nightly News.
“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,” Holt wrote. “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.”
The network did not immediately name a successor to Holt’s position. It’s also unknown when his exact last day in the anchor chair will be.
Holt has been a staple in the modern media landscape, presenting a familiar face to viewers while delivering some of the biggest news of the 21st century, including reports on the political rise of Donald Trump, the COVID-19 pandemic and conflicts in the middle east.
“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, according to the network’s own reporting on Holt’s departure. “Quite simply, Lester is the beating heart of this news organization.”
In a 2018 poll, Holt was named as the most trusted newsman in America.
Holt is the latest high-profile reporter to leave a network anchoring job. Norah O’Donnell recently stepped down as “CBS Evening News” anchor. She is being replaced by John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois.