ALL EYES ON HIM Lester Holt’s Stand In TAKES CHARGE On Nightly News And Makes SURPRISING MOVE To WIN OVER DOUBTFUL NBC VIEWERS
NBC News is ready for Tom Llamas to take over for NBC Nightly News as they start airing a new commercial about him being the new anchor
Lester Holt is leaving on May 30 from NBC Nightly News(Image: Robert Deutsch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
NBC News is gearing up for Tom Llamas’ takeover.
The broadcast journalist is replacing Lester Holt as NBC Nightly News’ anchor and will officially start on Monday, June 2. Llamas was confirmed by the network back in March following Holt’s official announcement he was leaving the position after a decade. Holt was both anchor and managing editor for NBC Nightly News’ anchor. His last day is set for Friday, May 30, and then he’ll be heading to Dateline full time.
NBC News recently released a promo for Llamas’ upcoming debut. The ad aired on Friday, May 16, and it began by showcasing the history of the show. The evening news program began with its current title in 1970, but the show was first launched in 1948. The promo exhibited the four major hosts in the program’s history before Llamas. The four anchors were John Chancellor, Tom Brokaw, Brian Williams, and Holt.
After the visual and audio appearance of the four prior hosts, the commercial transitioned to Llamas as the one taking the new mantle but also showcasing that he is a familiar face to NBC News.
Llamas has been both a correspondent and fill-in anchor for the network. He additionally anchors Top Story on the NBC News Now streaming service.
The 45-year-old journalist will remain anchoring Top Story while becoming the new permanent NBC Nightly News host.
“Legacy isn’t handed down, it’s carried forward. As the world changes, we look for what endures, we look for a constant,” the 30-second spot stated with a montage of Llamas’ reporting.
“And from one era to the next, trust is the anchor,” the spot concluded, showing Holt before segueing to Llamas.
Llamas is starting Nightly News on June 2(Image: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
Llamas’ professional journalism career began with NBC News. After interning at a local Telemundo, he worked as an overnight production assistant and then a campaign embed at the network.
He went on to become a local journalist at WTVJ and WNBC. Then he joined ABC News as Chief National Affairs Correspondent and anchored weekend editions of the network’s World News Tonight from 2014 to 2021.
In 2021, he came back to NBC News as a senior national correspondent and as the anchor for Top Story afterwards.
Llamas is heading to be the first Latino journalist to host the weeknight edition of Nightly News.
He is also the fourth person to anchor the show since it was renamed to Nightly News in 1970. Llamas is also the first to host a streaming newscast alongside his current cable network duties.
