NBC Nightly News has found a replacement for the departing Lester Holt. Tom Llamas, who has been hosting Top Story With Tom Llamas on NBC News NOW since 2021, will take over when Holt bows out this summer. “Lester Holt is a great man and one of the most trusted broadcasters of our time,” Llamas said in a statement to NBC News (where else?). “Just like Lester, I promise to be devoted to our viewers and dedicated to the truth.”
Llamas got his broadcasting start with the NBC News Specials Unit, before moving to MSNBC. He had a brief seven-year dalliance with ABC News from 2014-2021. In that time, he substituted for David Muir on ABC World News Tonight and became the weekend anchor of ABC World News Tonight in 2017. When he joins NBC Nightly News, he will become the first Latine weekday anchor for that show. He will also keep doing Top Story.
Lester Holt gave his blessing to the news, saying he was “happy” with his replacement. “It’s a great staff he’s inheriting. I know you all will give him your 100% support as you make the transition,” he said in a phone call to the staff of Nightly News. “As I told him, it’s important to make the broadcast his, and you will over time. … I’m happy, happy for Tom and his family — and crush it, my friend.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Top Story With Tom Llamas began in 2022.