Longtime NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt has revealed why he is stepping away from the show this summer.

Holt, 66, said the decision stemmed from a deep-rooted desire to get his hands dirty with stories that do not demand a desk – something his spot on Dateline allows.

He said so in a sit-down style interview with Variety, finally providing insight behind his fast-approaching exit.

Holt said leaving Nightly will simply provide him more freedom – as well as the opportunity to return to his reporter roots.

‘We’re still doing journalism, but these are hour and two-hour shows we’re doing,’ he said. ‘Some of the stories you’ll see me doing will be months in the making.’

Holt added how he is looking forward to flex ‘some different news muscles’ with the fulltime position while citing some ‘long’ conversations with his wife and several ‘top confidants’ – all of which led him to the same conclusion.

‘I once spent two nights in prison for a “Dateline,” and I’ve done heartbreaking stories on the asthma crisis and the economy,’ he explained, with former ABC wonder-boy Tom Llamas waiting in the wings to take his place.

‘I’ve done a lot of things that are outside of what many would think is a traditional “Dateline,” but I want to do more of those,’ he continued.

Longtime NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt has revealed why he is stepping away from the show this summer
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Longtime NBC Nightly News host Lester Holt has revealed why he is stepping away from the show this summer

Holt, seen here with his wife Carol and two sons Stefan and Cameron, said the decision stemmed from a deep-rooted desire to get his hands dirty with stories that do not demand a desk - something his fulltime spot on Dateline allows
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Holt, seen here with his wife Carol and two sons Stefan and Cameron, said the decision stemmed from a deep-rooted desire to get his hands dirty with stories that do not demand a desk – something his fulltime spot on Dateline allows

‘I want to be able to tell a producer, “Yes, I’ll be there for that interview next week,’ because I won’t be jumping” after whatever is happening for “Nightly.”‘

Seemingly yearning to reimplement some of the skills he honed early on in his career as a  reporter at stations in San Francisco and Sacramento, Holt at one point admitted: ‘It wasn’t like one moment of epiphany.’

‘I never saw myself doing this job forever,’ he added, referring to the fulltime gig he assumed from Brian Williams ten years ago.

‘I decided that I needed to come off the ‘Nightly’ gig, but I still had gas in the tank.’

‘The big buy-in was to be able to do more of the hours,’ Holt – the father of two adult children with longtime wife Carol – explained further.

In doing so, he finally addressed speculation surrounding his fast-approaching exit since February.

A sudden statement announcing his intent to step away, at the time, expressed excitement about ‘continuing as anchor of Dateline’ – for the first time – ‘in a full time capacity’.

‘I will be expanding my footprint on the broadcast and crafting ‘Dateline ‘hours on subjects I care deeply about,’ the anchor added of the 60 Minutes-eqsue show he has hosted for the past 15 years.

‘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,’ he asserted, offering the message an internal memo in a memo to staffers.

He said so in a sit-down style interview with Variety, finally providing insight behind his fast-approaching exit
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He said so in a sit-down style interview with Variety, finally providing insight behind his fast-approaching exit

Holt - seen here with his predecessor Brian Williams a decade ago - said leaving Nightly will simply provide him more freedom - as well as the opportunity to return to his roots
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Holt – seen here with his predecessor Brian Williams a decade ago – said leaving Nightly will simply provide him more freedom – as well as the opportunity to return to his roots

Seemingly yearning to reimplement some of the skills he honed early on in his career as a reporter at stations in San Francisco and Sacramento, Holt - seen here in a portrait snapped by his then employer CBS - said of the decision: 'It wasn¿t like one moment of epiphany'
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Seemingly yearning to reimplement some of the skills he honed early on in his career as a reporter at stations in San Francisco and Sacramento, Holt – seen here in a portrait snapped by his then employer CBS – said of the decision: ‘It wasn’t like one moment of epiphany’

A more freed-up Holt could help on that front, as Dateline remains in front of ABC’s newsmagazine 20/20.

NBC Nightly News, however, continues to lag behind ABC’s World News tonight.

That’s after NBC long held the evening news crown – a gap since bridged by the anchor who assumed Diane Sawyer’s spot on the program in 2014, David Muir.

The 44-year-old on-air talent set to step in for Holt, meanwhile, was once Muir’s second – a former weekend anchor of ABC World News Tonight and frequent fill-in host for the program.

He was poached by NBC in 2021 with plans to eventually become Holt’s successor, insiders told DailyMail.com in March.

‘With anchor and programming changes, there are real worries at NBC News… in particular,’ a network exec said anonymously at the time, adding how since the departure of ‘icons like Hoda [Kotb] and Lester… their replacements are failing to fill those shoes.

‘Lester was already down by so much [to ABC], and now NBC is nervous after putting in Llamas,’ the source said, after NBC News executive Janelle Rodriguez publicly praised Llamas as a pillar of ‘integrity’ and ‘journalistic excellence’.

Llamas, they added, is ‘much lesser known’.

More recently, an insider noted to DailyMail.com how Llamas – when filling in for holt – is ahead of his old front man Muir when it comes to the hallowed 25-54 demographic

‘Muir hasn’t figured out how to connect to younger viewers,’ the source observed.

He's set to make way for former ABC anchor and weekend Today host Tom Llamas on June 2, after which he will devote his duties solely to Dateline
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He’s set to make way for former ABC anchor and weekend Today host Tom Llamas on June 2, after which he will devote his duties solely to Dateline

Holt has served as the show's principal host since 2011, during which times ratings have declined
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Holt has served as the show’s principal host since 2011, during which times ratings have declined

He added how he is looking forward to flex 'some different news muscles' at Dateline, after coming to the decision after several 'long' conversations with his family. He's seen here with sons Stefan and Cameron Holt circa 1990
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He added how he is looking forward to flex ‘some different news muscles’ at Dateline, after coming to the decision after several ‘long’ conversations with his family. He’s seen here with sons Stefan and Cameron Holt circa 1990

Llamas, meanwhile, is set to step into Holt’s shoes full-time on June 2, as uncertainty continues to plague the industry as a whole.

Holt’s decision to live Nightly, meanwhile, coincides with the careers of his predecessors, with Tom Brokaw continuing to serve as a NBC special correspondent and analyst for several years after retiring from Nightly News in 2004,

Diane Sawyer, upon leaving World News Tonight to make way for Muir in 2014, became a contributor to Disney’s news division.

CBS’s Norah O’Donnell did the same this year, after leaving the anchor chair at “CBS Evening News’ to instead produce more content for the network.

Holt’s NBC Nightly News departure was announced weeks later, on February 24.

Traditional news formats – and linear TV in general – remain on the decline.