'Facts Matter': Lester Holt Signs Off As ‘NBC Nightly News' Anchor
'It has been an honor to lead this program and an honor to be welcomed into your homes,' Lester Holt signed off in his final time as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News this evening. 'I'm so grateful for your trust around here. Facts matter, words matter, journalism matters, and you matter.'
In a news packed show leading with tornados in the South, Elon Musk's DOGE exit and drug use reports, Sean 'Diddy' Combs sex-trafficking trial, wildfires in Canada, and Taylor Swift finally buying back her music, Holt's departure was one of the biggest stories of all
More from Deadline
Trump Sued By PBS To Stop $500M Funding Cut
Diddy Pardon: Donald Trump "Certainly" Would Consider Clemency For Sean Combs As Old Pal Faces Sex-Trafficking Trial & Life Behind Bars
Taylor Swift Buys Back Her Music Catalog 6 Years After It Was Sold To Scooter Braun
Holt, 66, announced earlier this year that he would be stepping down as anchor, after ten years in the spot. However, Holt isn't disappearing from the Comcast-owned NBC. He will remain with the network in a full-time role hosting Dateline.
Today, it was that role at the news magazine series that got a shout-out from Holt. 'I'll see you on Dateline, in the meantime, please continue to take care of yourself, and each other,' he said as Nightly News staffs came on to the set to share the farewell with the anchor and offer Holt a round of applause. 'And I'll do the same,' he added as the show cut to a look-back at Holt's NBC Nightly News anchor debut in 2015 to today. (Read Holt's full goodbye below)
On Monday, Tom Llamas will debut as anchor, and he also will take the title of managing editor. When he returned to NBC News in 2021, there was speculation that he would be in line to succeed Holt, as Llamas had been weekend anchor on ABC News' World News Tonight. In his new role, Llamas will continue anchoring the streaming newscast Top Story for NBC News Now.
With clips of sit-downs with the likes of Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, meeting Pope Leo XIV and showing off his impressive bass playing skills, Friday morning saw Holt feted on The Today Show. 'Class act' Holt, as Savannah Guthrie called him, told the morning show that part of leaving Nightly News had to do with him thinking lately of 'what's the back part of my career going to look like?'
'The time seemed to be right' for him to transition to a new role on-air, Holt told Today.
In a vastly shifting media landscape, NBC Nightly News for the most part has been in second place to ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir. Having said that, the Peacock network has touted instances, like during the Olympics, where it has beat its rival.
Although evening news audiences aren't what they once were, they are still significant for linear television and typically outperform most cable news programming.
ABC's World News Tonight with David Muir at times is the most watched show of the week in all of broadcast television. In the first quarter, it averaged 8.13 million viewers, compared to 6.6 million for Nightly News and 4.59 million for CBS Evening News. In the 25-54 demo, World News Tonight averaged 1.16 million viewers, compared to 983,000 for NBC Nightly News, and 657,000 for CBS Evening News.
There is a bit of a risk for networks in shifting anchors, as evening news viewership habits tend not to budge much unless there is a major change. CBS Evening News switched up its anchors earlier this year in a switch that leaned in to 60 Minutes style correspondent storytelling, with John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois succeeding Norah O'Donnell. But the newscast has been down year-to-year.
As part of the NBC Nightly News transition, spots ran Friday during the show for Llamas' anchor debut on June 2. Unlike when Holt took over for the scandal plagued Brian Williams, this change of anchors has the advantage of being a smooth handover.
Read Lester Holt's full NBC Nightly News farewell here:
Before we go tonight, a word about me. You may recall the announcement back some months ago that I would be leaving my post here at Nightly News in order to expand my role as host of Dateline. Well, today is that day. After 10 years, this is my last Nightly News broadcast as anchor.
It has been an honor to lead this program and an honor to be welcomed into your homes.
I'm so grateful for your trust around here. Facts matter, words matter, journalism matters, and you matter. Over the last decade, we have shared some dark and harrowing days and nights from our country, the pandemic, mass shootings, natural disasters, each testing our resilience and our compassion. That's why I often like to leave you with something to smile about, moments that reassure and connect us. I'll miss our evenings together, and I will miss the team that puts it all together, my dear friends and my colleagues. But for now, I just want to say thank you to my incredibly supportive and patient family and all of you. NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas premieres Monday, and I wish Tom great success. I'll see you on Dateline. In the meantime, please continue to take care of yourself, and each other. And I'll do the same.
Best of Deadline
'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg
2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
Everything We Know About Netflix's 'The Thursday Murder Club' So Far
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
TV Ratings: ‘Squid Game' Rules, But Broadcast Series Make Strong Showing in Multiplatform Rankings
With streaming now the platform of choice for the largest share of TV viewers in the U.S., it would seem logical that a streaming show would top the ratings rather than a traditional network show. As it turns out, that's correct: Netflix's Squid Game is, by a sizable margin, the most-watched series of the 2024-25 season. But in Nielsen's multiplatform ratings, which measure viewing over five weeks and across all outlets, a number of broadcast series are still commanding large audiences. More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Squid Game' Final Season Trailer Restarts the Games After Failed Rebellion Streaming Ratings: 'White Lotus' Hits No. 1 Ahead of Season 3 Finale Streaming Is Now Just As Crowded With Ads As Old School TV Of the top 20 shows through March 15 (the most recent date for which the 35-day ratings are complete), eight originate on broadcast networks — six from CBS and two from ABC. All of them average at least 11.5 million viewers per episode across their network showings and streaming over five weeks. CBS' Tracker is the top network show and fourth overall with 17.6 million viewers via CBS and Paramount+. Squid Game, whose second season premiered in late December, racked up 27.1 million viewers in the 35-day window. Netflix's Adolescence (19 million) and Prime Video's Reacher (18.1 million) rank second and third, and two other network series, first-year breakouts Matlock (CBS) and High Potential (ABC), are tied for fifth overall at 16.1 million viewers. This season is the first in which Nielsen has released multiplatform data showing how outlets compare. In the broadcast landscape alone, CBS leads the pack (as it does in linear ratings) with 9.1 million viewers in primetime. NBC is second at 7.2 million viewers, followed by ABC (6.9 million) and Fox (4.3 million). ABC has the biggest gain from Nielsen's linear ratings (which are measured over seven days), rising by 61 percent with streaming and the longer window. CBS improves by 59 percent with the longer multiplatform measure, while NBC grows by 41 percent and Fox, whose shows stream on Hulu but which doesn't have its own platform, adds 12 percent. The top 20 shows (including ties) for all platforms and just on broadcast in Nielsen's 35-day multiplatform ratings are below. Sports and specials are excluded. Best of The Hollywood Reporter 22 of the Most Shocking Character Deaths in Television History A 'Star Wars' Timeline: All the Movies and TV Shows in the Franchise 'Yellowstone' and the Sprawling Dutton Family Tree, Explained
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Mom, Who Was Accused of Murdering Her 3-Year-Old Daughter, Dies After Being Found Unresponsive in Jail Cell
Lauren Ingrid Flanigan, the Australian woman accused of fatally stabbing her 3-year-old daughter on May 26, has died The 32-year-old was found unresponsive in her jail cell on Friday, May 30, and died in a local hospital on Sunday, June 1 An investigation into the incident is currently underwayLauren Ingrid Flanigan, the Australian woman accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter, has died. Flanigan, 32, was found unresponsive in her cell at the Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre on Friday, May 30, per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). Officers provided "immediate assistance" before she was transported to the intensive care unit at a local hospital, according to ABC, which cited Queensland police. Flanigan died on the evening of Sunday, June 1, per the outlet. In a statement to PEOPLE, Queensland Correctional Service confirmed that an investigation into Flanigan's death is underway. The organization said they will assist authorities in preparing a report for the coroner, as 'is standard practice for all deaths in custody.' 'Support is being offered to the responding officers and their colleagues,' the Queensland Correctional Service added. Flanigan, a mother of three, was accused of fatally stabbing her eldest daughter, Sophia Rose, in the front yard of their Moore Park Beach home in Central Queensland on Monday, May 26. Queensland Police Chief Inspector Grant Marcus said authorities received several calls from neighbors, but the child was dead when emergency services found her just before 5 p.m. local time, per 7 News and 9 News. Flanigan was taken into custody and charged, while a knife that police allege was the murder weapon was also seized, the outlets reported. 'There were two other children at the address at the time, both younger — aged 1 and 2,' Superintendent Brad Inskip said, per 'Neither of them was injured in the incident yesterday, and they're currently being cared for by family members.' Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Inskip told 7 News that there were 'multiple attempts' to revive Sophia before she succumbed to her injuries. 'No doubt it was a horrific scene, it's a terrible, terrible incident for everybody, including the witnesses and the neighbors, including the emergency services police and ambulances who attended and investigators who are doing the ongoing investigation,' Inskip said, per 7 News. According to Sky News Australia, Flanigan had allegedly posted a number of eerie messages on social media in the days leading up to the fatal stabbing. She allegedly shared a video of a woman with bruises on her arm, captioned, 'Remember your pain as it fuels your purpose.' She allegedly included lyrics from the heavy metal group Disturbed's song 'Prayer,' which say, 'Another nightmare about to come true. Will manifest tomorrow. Another love that I've taken from you.' In other posts, Flanigan allegedly referenced training 'like it's war' and being a 'warrior of light,' according to She captioned a photo of her children 'my divine babies,' while other posts allegedly referenced past trauma. Read the original article on People
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Zach Braff Joins ‘Scrubs' Reboot in Development at ABC
Zach Braff may soon be scrubbing back in at Sacred Heart. The actor is on board to reprise the role of J.D. in a reboot of 'Scrubs' being developed at ABC. The reboot was first reported to be in early development in December, with original series creator Bill Lawrence serving as executive producer but not showrunner. More from Variety Disney's Upfront Went Hard on Sports - With an Off-Key Manning Brothers Musical - but Hardly Mentioned ABC Jimmy Kimmel Takes On Bob Iger, Netflix and Gen Z's YouTube Habits in Upfronts Monologue: 'When You Have Kids, You'll Come Crawling Back to Disney Like Dogs!" ABC Unveils Fall 2025 Schedule: '9-1-1: Nashville' Joins Its Mothership on Thursday; 'Shark Tank' Moves to Wednesday As 'Celebrity Wheel of Fortune' Takes Its Place Lawrence, Braff and other 'Scrubs' alum have discussed the idea of a reboot for years, but it couldn't go into motion until after negotiations between Disney, which owns the IP, and Warner Bros. Television, where Lawrence has an overall deal. While working on 'Scrubs' at Disney-owned 20th Television, Lawrence remains under his deal at WBTV, where he produces the Apple TV+ comedy series 'Shrinking,' 'Ted Lasso' and 'Bad Monkey.' 'Scrubs' premiered in 2001 on NBC, which aired the series for seven seasons before cancelling it. It was then renewed by ABC for an eighth season, which was intended to end the series, though the network later greenlit a ninth season subtitled 'Scrubs: Med School' in which only John C. McGinley and Donald Faison stayed on as series regulars. Braff appeared in six out of 13 episodes. Alongside Braff as J.D. aka John Dorian, the original cast of 'Scrubs' included McGinley as Perry Cox, Faison as Chris Turk, Judy Reyes as Carla Espinosa, Sarah Chalke as Elliot Reid, Ken Jenkins as Bob Kelso and Neil Flynn as the janitor. The series was a single-camera sitcom set at Sacred Heart Hospital and narrated by J.D. as he and his friends advanced in their medical careers. Braff is the only cast member currently confirmed to be attached to the reboot. He previously spoke about his enthusiasm to join a 'Scrubs' reboot in a Variety interview about the 20th anniversary of his film 'Garden State': 'The idea of getting back together with my friends and doing like 10 or 12 episodes of maybe one or two seasons, and just laughing with everyone? That sounds like a dream,' he said. Best of Variety New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series - The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and 'Hot Ones' Stir Up Buzz Oscars Predictions 2026: 'Sinners' Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
