NBC NIGHTLY NEWS SHAKEN: Major Ratings Shift Follows Lester Holt’s SHOCKING EXIT!

Viewers React as the Network Faces Unprecedented Changes—What’s Next for the Iconic Broadcast?

The Real Impact Behind the Numbers—Find Out Why Everyone’s Watching This Story Unfold

Tom Llamas replaced Lester Holt last month and since then NBC Nightly News has seen some ratings drop – but more people from the 25-54 age group are now watching the program

Lester Holt left NBC Nightly News at the end of May(Image: Getty)
NBC Nightly News has continued to see its ratings drop in the past month after Lester Holt left and Tom Llamas replaced him.

The 46-year-old journalist became the anchor of the program on June 2 – and after one week, the viewing figures were much lower than Lester’s final week. The ratings for the entire month of June have now been released, showing that NBC Nightly News averaged around 5.674 million – down from the 5.708 million viewers that Lester, 66, averaged at the end of his run.

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When he left the show at the end of May, it had an average of 828,000 viewers in the 25–50 age group, but since Tom took the helm that number thas dipped to 823,000. Currently, the NBC program remains behind World News Tonight with David Muir.

But despite the dip in ratings, NBC Nightly News saw its viewership in the 25-54 age group increase by 48,000 compared with last year, which one was of the network’s aims when Tom was chosen to replace the legendary host. In a statement earlier this year, Tom said anchoring NBC Nightly News was “a profound honor and one that carries tremendous responsibility” for him.

Tom Llamas replaced Lester as host of the program(Image: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
He added, “I look forward to working with the world class journalists at Nightly News and Top Story to bring viewers the most important stories every night. Lester Holt is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time. Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”

At the end of February, Lester shared the news that he was stepping down from his position with NBC after a decade delivering the news and covering everything from the Covid-19 pandemic to the war in Gaza. While Holt will no longer be leading the news program, fans can still catch the television personality as he continues his full-time role at Dateline.

Speaking on his exit from NBC’s News Nightly, he reflected. “As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”

He continued that he is looking forward to the future and “expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting Dateline hours on subjects I care deeply about. I am thrilled to be able to work more closely with my enormously talented friends at Dateline as the broadcast continues to grow and attract new viewers in new places.”

Tom has many years of experience under his belt and has already lead an early-evening program on the NBC News Now named Top Story with Tom Llamas. Before joining the NBC crew, Llamas worked as the weekend anchor of ABC World News Tonight from 2014 until 2021. In addition to this, the journalist has also won multiple Emmy Awards for his thorough reporting as well as two Edward R. Murrow awards.