Lester Holt is stepping down as anchor of ‘NBC Nightly News’ after a decade:Holt will move full time to NBC’s news magazine show “Dateline” at the beginning of the summer.
Lester Holt is stepping down as the anchor of NBC Nightly News after a remarkable decade, marking the end of an era for the flagship news program. Starting in the summer, Holt will focus entirely on his role at Dateline, the NBC news magazine show he has anchored for nearly 15 years.
The announcement came Monday, as Holt shared his decision with the network, noting that while his time on Nightly News was coming to a close, his commitment to NBC News was far from over. In fact, he will continue to be a staple at NBC in his new full-time position at Dateline, a program where he’s helped shape groundbreaking investigative reporting for years.
NBC has yet to announce Holt’s successor, but his departure from Nightly News marks the end of a defining period for the show, a program he steered since June 2015. Holt’s journey at NBC News spans even further back, with a background as the anchor of weekend editions of Nightly News for eight years and a co-anchor role on Weekend TODAY for 12 years. As for Dateline, Holt has served as its principal anchor since September 2011, cementing his place as one of the most recognizable faces in American news.
Reflecting on his career, Holt shared a heartfelt note with the Nightly News and Dateline teams, reminiscing on his humble beginnings as a 20-year-old radio reporter chasing breaking news in San Francisco. “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,” he wrote. “What an amazing ride.”
In his tenure at Nightly News, Holt has been the face of some of the most pivotal events of the 21st century. From the political rise of President Donald Trump to the global impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic, Holt has been on the frontlines of major stories. He provided in-depth coverage of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the devastating October 2023 attack in Israel, and the continuing crisis in Gaza. More recently, Holt was a key figure in NBC’s election night coverage and conducted an exclusive interview in Iran with President Masoud Pezeshkian. He also helmed a special Dateline episode on the tragic wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in 2025.
As he steps into this new chapter, Holt’s legacy as an anchor who defined a generation of news broadcasts remains unparalleled. His move to Dateline will allow him to continue his work as a storyteller, delving into investigative journalism and long-form reporting. It’s clear that Holt’s influence on the landscape of broadcast journalism will continue, even as he shifts into a new role.