Welcome, Tom Llamas, to TV's Never-Ending Evening-News Battle
Tom Llamas has no formal training in juggling, but his new assignment for NBC News will have him working to keep some very big plates spinning in the air.
When Llamas takes over the 'NBC Nightly News' desk from Lester Holt on Monday night, one of his first jobs will be to ensure that the program's audience barely notices, even if a transition in such a program is one of the more seismic things that happens on TV. He will do it even as he keeps his old job, anchoring 'Top Story,' an hour-long streaming program for the broadband outlet NBC News Now that starts the minute 'Nightly' ends Monday through Friday.
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'It's funny, but most of the questions I've received' since NBC News announced his new role have focused on ''How are you going to do that?'' says Llamas during a recent interview with Variety. 'I remind people that 'Today' is four hours straight every single day.'
The key, says the 45-year-old self-effacing correspondent, is to prove to audiences that he is representing them in a world where even the simple act of delivering the news has become increasingly complex. 'I want viewers never to forget that we're out there working for them. I truly believe that even though I work for NBC, I work for the viewer,' he says. 'I really want that to come through, because at the end of the day, viewers have to trust you.'
Executives at NBC News believe that by naming Llamas the 'Nightly' anchor, they are giving viewers something they really want. Here, after all, is someone who, before coming to NBC, was the weekend anchor for ABC News' 'World News Tonight,' the nation's most-watched evening-news program. Llamas was widely seen as a top candidate to succeed that show's current anchor, David Muir — with one notable caveat. Muir is only 51,and, given his status in the ratings, seems unlikely to leave the role anytime soon.
Now Llamas can anchor the evening news as well, and there is some reason for internal optimism. A recent revamp of 'CBS Evening News' that uses two anchors and has shifted focus to enterprise and feature reporting has not been well-received, with Nielsen showing that both 'Nightly' and 'World News' have picked up audience share. Executives have also been enthused by a performance by Llamas on March 7, when he filled in for Holt on 'Nightly' and won more viewers among people between 25 and 54 — the crowd advertisers desire most in news programs — than Muir did for the evening. Muir has typically trumped Llamas in that audience category by 21% when the two have gone head-to-head, according to Nielsen data.
ABC News certainly seems aware of Llamas' new tenure on 'Nightly.' The Disney-backed news division recently made Muir available for a profile in 'People' in the days ahead of Llamas' new start. 'I have a lot of admiration and respect for David, and I'm looking forward to going up against him every night,' says Llamas. 'I'm sure he is as well.'
'Nightly' viewers won't see any overhauls or shakeups to the format they know well, a nod, perhaps, to the challenges CBS News has faced. 'We really started this with tremendous respect for our audience. Many of our viewers grew up watching 'Nightly'' with anchors including Tom Brokaw or Brian Williams, says Janelle Rodriguez, executive vice president of programming for NBC News, during an interview. 'There is a visceral and emotional connection to the broadcast.'
Indeed, some new segments ought to appeal to broader audiences. One early effort will have NBC News correspondents probing something every American can relate to, no matter their background. 'We are going to take a very sharp and tough look at the insurance industry,' Llamas says. 'People across this country from all walks of life are having issues' with the effects of being denied coverage. In one coming report, a man with liver cancer who was denied coverage for an experimental treatment was able to get it after NBC News examined the circumstances. 'I come from local news,' says Llamas. 'I don't want to lean back.'
NBC's 'Nightly' will also start to ramp up coverage tied to the nation's 250th birthday in 2026, with nods to memorable places and people. 'Whether you are Republican or you are Democrat or you are independent,' says Llamas, the reports will spotlight subject in which viewers should have natural interest.
Llamas is only the fourth person to anchor 'Nightly' in 40 years and says he has reached out to many of his predecessors for advice and counsel. But it's not the position he expected to have when he was 15 years old and working as an overnight production assistant at WSCV, a Telemundo station in Miami. 'Whatever they wanted me to do, I would do,' recalls Llamas. 'You're getting coffee, answering phones, running the teleprompter, going to our crime scenes, interviewing local officials.' He had to enlist his mother for car rides until he got his driver's license.
Now he's taking the desk at a fraught time for the TV-news business. The massive audiences that once made a habit of TV news have splintered across dozens of different video sources and the media companies that run the news operations are facing new economic pressures and political scrutiny.
Such factors play a big role in the decision to have Llamas continue with his streaming duties. 'I think the way you survive is by being everywhere,' says Llamas. NBC intends to push 'Top Story' viewers to watch 'Nightly,' and vice-versa, says Rodriguez. 'We see this as an opportunity' to bridge any gaps between different generations of viewers, she says, and to 'create a lot of cross currents between the two shows.'
As for politics, Llamas says such stuff is beyond his control. All he can do is get the news out. 'You just have to focus on the news and focus on your job, and just remember, it's never about you,' he says. 'It's not about you.'
Part of the mission is to keep 'Nightly' viable for future generations, particularly as news aficionados get more thrown at them each day via digital and social outlets. 'There is just such a flood of info out there and on the one hand yes that' s scattering audiences across multiple platforms, but it is all creating an even bigger need for people to have curated, thought-out contextualized well-produced journalism format that makes the best use their time,' says Rodriguez. Such a show 'will only become more important as time goes on,' she adds.
That's a heavy load to carry on the first week of a new job, but Llamas appears ready to get started. 'I'm going to have to make sure my energy level is peaking at 6:30. I may have to have a little Cuban coffee at 6:29,' he says, 'After that, I mean, we're off to the races.'
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