In a move first predicted by Puck’s Dylan Byers back on July 31, 2024 (and then on September 27), NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt told staff in an e-mail he’d be stepping down “around the start of the summer” after a decade at the weekday show while both remaining and expanding his role as lead anchor of Dateline NBC.
The announcement came nearly a month to the day after competitor Norah O’Donnell left the CBS Evening News to continue as a special network correspondent.
Holt said the “big decision” will allow for “a future that I’m happy to say will keep me here for years to come and doing what I love” with the Dateline NBC role allowing him to spend more time “crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about.”
By the time he leaves, Holt will have been on weekdays for ten years and then another seven as weekend anchor of…
