NBC News announced on Wednesday that Tom Llamas will take over from Lester Holt as the anchor of “Nightly News” starting this summer, though he will continue hosting his streaming newscast.
Llamas, 45, has been expected to step into this role. Since joining NBC from ABC in 2021, he has regularly filled in for Holt and has been a key figure on NBC News Now, where he anchors the one-hour program “Top Story.”
Holt recently shared that he will step down from “Nightly News” after ten years. He will continue working at the network, focusing on “Dateline NBC.”
Tom Llamas appears on NBC’s Today show at Rockefeller Plaza in New York“Tom has the winning combination of journalistic excellence, passionate storytelling and unyielding integrity — all characteristics that have long been trademarks of NBC `Nightly News,’” said Janelle Rodriguez, NBC News’ executive vice president of programming.
This change means David Muir of ABC’s “World News Tonight” is now the longest-running evening news anchor and leads in ratings. CBS News made a change earlier this year by replacing Norah O’Donnell with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois.
Though the news industry has changed since the time Walter Cronkite was a nightly presence in homes, ABC, CBS, and NBC still reach over 10 million viewers each night. Their anchors are seen as key figures for each network’s news department.
Llamas will be the first to hold the anchor position on “Nightly News” while continuing to host his streaming show. His “Top Story” broadcast will air each weeknight after “Nightly News” concludes.
