Time once was when the news of a network news anchor stepping down from their post was a really big deal. I still recall to this day when Walter Cronkite stepped down from his perch as the paternal face of the CBS EVENING NEWS and turned the reins over to Dan Rather. It was such a huge story that I made a “special arrangement” with the CBS station I was interning for to allow the newscast I was producing for my college student-run station to run an extended (accredited) clip of his farewell moments. Believe me, it elevated the quality of our own efforts immensely.
And even back in the earth-cooling days of 2015 it was a newsworthy event when Lester Holt was elevated to weekday anchor of NBC NIGHTLY NEWS–although it may have had more to do with some of the facts about the guy he was replacing. SPORTSKEEDA’s Akanksha Mishra felt it was necessary to share with his readers–many of whom fall into an age bracket where this would be considered ancient history– this recap earlier this morning:
Lester Holt joined NBC Nightly News in 2015 after its former anchor, Brian Williams, stepped down amid controversy. The controversy stemmed from Williams’ exaggeration of a 2003 incident in which he claimed to have been on a Chinook helicopter that came under ground fire during the Iraq invasion.
And his fellow Gen Z chronicler, HELLO!’s Beatriz Colon, offered her own version of yesterday’s news involving Holt with her own qualifier:
On Monday, February 24, longtime anchor Lester Holt announced that he was departing from his role as host of NBC’s Nightly News, a role he has held for the past decade. In a memo to colleagues sharing the news, Lester revealed that the departure is in part to focus and expand on his hosting duties at Dateline, of which he has been principal anchor since September 2011. Lester took on the Nightly News gig in June 2015, following the demotion of his predecessor Brian Williams — Girls alum Allison Williams‘ dad.
Yep, I suppose the fact that he sired Marnie Michaels resonates more with her readers. It is that acknowledgment of demographic distance that perhaps explains why Holt’s announcement got far less attention than the sign-off broadcast of his technical colleague Joy Reid, who departed MSNBC last night with a tear-filled, almost contrite farewell where virtually every one of her colleagues showed up to express their condolences and solidarity, if for no other reason to somehow express to at least one of her show’s hate-watchers that she may be worth remembering as something more than a “mentally obnoxious racist”.
But if you go by sheer numbers, one might conclude that Holt’s departure of being the only African-American male to currently head a nightly newscast should have been a far bigger deal. And almost hidden in a story which FOX NEWS’
“CBS Evening News” has seen continued ratings woes following the January departure of Norah O’Donnell, who anchored the program for five years. John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois succeeded O’Donnell, and the show pivoted from its traditional news-driven format to a magazine-style program.
(But)the program has continued to fall behind its ABC and NBC rivals…”CBS Evening News” averaged 4.8 million viewers during the week of Jan. 27 when Dickerson and DuBois took over and dropped to under 4.5 million by the week of Feb. 10. By comparison, ABC’s “World News Tonight” averaged 8.3 million viewers and “NBC Nightly News” averaged 6.8 million viewers from Jan. 27 through Feb. 18.
Or, in other words, Holt was attracting nearly SEVEN TIMES as many nightly viewers for a show that airs at 6:30 PM ET than Reid was (922,000, per a report released yesterday from USTVDB.com.).
But Holt was indeed a throwback to the days where news personalities merely introduced stories and didn’t make them. He followed not only Williams but the legacies of storied predecessors like John Chancellor and Tom Brokaw, who were the choices in my home during their respective eras, not Cronkite and Rather. 
I had followed Holt’s career since his days as a young local news reporter for CBS-owned stations in New York and Chicago and was a fan of his as he rose through the NBC ranks, in a manner much more typical and earned than, say, the path that his latter-day counterpart DuBois took to his role. And because I’m a big fan of the NBC NEWS NOW YouTube feed (which, it should be noted, is mostly devoid of any MSNBC telecasts) I probably have seen more of Holt’s work in recent years than anyone else. Bear in mind that at least at the moment that’s not part of the 6.8 million viewers Holt has been credited with.
True, Holt’s not going fully into the sunset. DATELINE is a ubiquitous presence across multiple NBC and even off-network platforms and will continue to be part of whatever strategy Comcast chooses for its news operations. And considering the median age of who actually watches all of this content, at 65 Holt is in many ways a mere pup. He’ll be around for a while.
And while no successor was formally named yesterday all indications are that decision is essentially a fair accompli, at least if one takes the NEW YORK POST’s Riley Cardoza and Oli Coleman PAGE SIX story yesterday at something close to face value:
Page Six hears that Tom Llamas is widely believed to be taking over.
“It’s def Tom,” an NBC insider tells us exclusively. “It’s basically a race between Tom and Hallie Jackson, but Tom is 99 percent.” Jackson, notably, is the anchor of the Sunday edition of “NBC Nightly News” and the senior Washington correspondent at the network.
The Post reported last year that there have been rampant rumors Llamas, 45, was hired to replace Holt.
When Holt signed a four-year deal to stay at NBC in 2021, Page Six reported that he insisted on the title of managing editor in order to prevent a perceived threat from Llamas, who had just joined the network from ABC’s “World News Tonight.”
And as THE LIST’s Sophie McEvoy reported in 2022, Llamas has had his eyes on that prize for a while:
After signing off as weekend correspondent for ABC News in January 2021, Llamas signed a deal with NBC News in April to become a senior national correspondent for the network. He has also signed on to become an anchor for the broadcaster’s primetime newscast on NBC News Now — a streaming service available on Peacock and other platforms according to Deadline.
According to Page Six, Llamas announced his decision during a meeting with ABC’s president of news James Goldston in early January. His decision reportedly came after it “had become clear to him” that he wouldn’t be given a “permanent chair” on ABC shows like “World News Tonight,” “Good Morning America,” or “20/20” in the “immediate future” (via Variety).
I’ve been an avid viewer of Llamas through the same YouTube lens and despite his back-room bravado he’s cut from much the same cloth as Holt–strong local chops and lengthy tenure on weekends. And yes, on paper the fact he’s, as he puts it, “the son of immigrants” and a full 20 years Holt’s junior at least paints the perception that NBC NIGHTLY NEWS will somehow find a younger and broader audience. Assuming, of course, such viewers can actually figure out how to get NBC NIGHTLY NEWS these days.
But then again, considering the journalistic standards that Cardoza and Coleman have been held to, there’s open question as to whether anyone in that age bracket will notice or care. Consider how their own recap of Holt’s history was reported:
After 19 years with CBS, Holt joined NBC in 2003 as a substitute anchor for “Nightly” and the “Today” show as well as a co-anchor for “Weekend Today.” He began anchoring the weekend edition of “Nightly” in 2007 before taking over the late Brian Williams’ weekday role in 2015.
The LATE Brian Williams? That description might come as a surprise to the folks at Amazon. And, more than likely, Marnie Michaels as well.
Kids. Sheesh.
Until next time…