It's Official..."NBC Nightly News" Has A Successor
Posted by ABRockNJock on March 5, 2025, 3:05 pm
It might not be necessarily Chicago related, except that Lester Holt has roots in this city dating back to the late '80s as an anchor on CBS 2, now known as CBS News Chicago.
It's still big news nevertheless, because NBC News has found Holt's successor on its dinnertime newscast known as "NBC Nightly News".
NBC News has named Tom Llamas, 45, as the successor to Holt on "Nightly News" starting sometime this summer. Llamas, currently an anchor on NBC News NOW, has filled in many times for Holt on the network's daily newscast.
Holt will remain with NBC News as anchor of its weekly newsmagazine known simply as "Dateline". A final airdate for Holt's final "Nightly" broadcast has yet to be announced.
I don't know for sure how much of a chance Gadi Schwartz or Hallie Jackson had. I think it was safe to say it was an in house choice succeeding Lester Holt on "NBC Nightly News".
Something else to chew on. Jose Diaz-Balart is the Saturday anchor of "Nightly News". He's also a Spanish language newsman at Telemundo, which is NBC's Spanish Language network and currently anchors "MSNBC Reports" at 10A (CT) weekday mornings from Miami. I don't know if Jose had a legit chance to get promoted either, when also considering that Holt also anchored weekends before getting promoted 10 years ago to replace Brian Williams on the dinnertime newscast.
I also bring this up because MSNBC, CNBC & other NBC Universal outlets are being spun off in the coming months. I don't think these channels will have NBC News' talent anymore once these channels are spun off. Keep an eye on this moving forward.
Re: It's Official..."NBC Nightly News" Has A Successor
I think it was safe to say it was an in house choice succeeding Lester Holt on "NBC Nightly News".
Both Gadi and Hallie are "in house" under the NBC umbrella, as that is not under NBC Universal, or SpinCo. Hallie was specifically pulled from MSNBC to remain under NBC from the impending MSNBC/SpinCo spinoff. NBCNow was created to appeal to younger viewers not consuming cable/sat/OTA.
Jose Diaz-Balart is the Saturday anchor of "Nightly News".
Diaz-Balart has been removed from MSNBC losing his day slot. MSNBC is winding down their Miami presence due to the spin off. He also has much better favorability with Telemundo viewers than MSNBC/NBC. I do not think he had much of a chance at the open spot. His being 64, did not help either.
I also bring this up because MSNBC, CNBC & other NBC Universal outlets are being spun off in the coming months. I don't think these channels will have NBC News' talent anymore once these channels are spun off
You are correct. As explained above, NBC is keeping who they want within that umbrella. Keeping talent @ MSNBC they want there. There will be no more cross pollination. MSNBC is transitioning to programs like "The Weekend" with 3 anchors and lively discussion as opposed to solo anchors. Furthermore, due to no cross pollination, they can't share news from NBC. They will be renting physical space from NBC but have to assemble their own News staff and division.
Z
Re: It's Official..."NBC Nightly News" Has A Successor
It is also notable that NBC is closing its Telemundo studios in Miami. That might also explain why Jose Diaz-Balart & Katie Phang are losing their shows on MSNBC.
Their respective shows originated in Miami and Phang's Saturday show was cancelled last week, coinciding with the dismissal of Joy Reid & changes in MSNBC's own schedule under new President Rebecca Kutler. Phang will stay on as a Legal Analyst and her final Saturday show airs April 19.
Re: It's Official..."NBC Nightly News" Has A Successor
It is also notable that NBC is closing its Telemundo studios in Miami. That might also explain why Jose Diaz-Balart & Katie Phang are losing their shows on MSNBC.
ABRockNJock, you are correct again.
The whole Comcast + NBC + all their news outlets was never a healthy setup. Now you have a President that openly attacks news outlets he doesn't see eye to eye with and you have NBC network and Comcast in the bullets path. The spinoff is a smart move.
Z
Re: It's Official..."NBC Nightly News" Has A Successor
Well, this President constantly refers to MSNBC as MSNDC"" as well as Comcast as "Concast"via his Truth Social account. He also takes cheap shots at other "fake news" accounts, too.
The Associated Press, which has been in the news business for decades, is currently banned by this Administration because it refuses to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America", which in reality it isn't. It is a clear issue of censorship.
This is the same Administration that singled out NBC News White House Correspondent Peter Alexander, along with CNN's Kaitlan Collins & Jeremy Diamond during those "Press Conferences" during the early stages of the 2020 pandemic. They also briefly revoked Jim Acosta's credentials and the WH Correspondents Association got his credentials restored.
Censorship & fair, accurate reporting are now under the microscope with this Administration now trying to control the message & blurring the line considerably.
on March 5, 2025, 3:05 pm