In a decision widely anticipated, NBC News has appointed Tom Llamas as the new anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” succeeding Lester Holt in early summer 2025. “Tom has the winning combination of journalistic excellence, passionate storytelling and unyielding integrity — all characteristics that have long been trademarks of ‘NBC Nightly News,’” stated NBC News executive vice president of programming Janelle Rodriguez. “Additionally, he’s been instrumental in growing NBC News Now into the leading streaming news network, helping to introduce NBC News to a new generation of viewers.”
Currently serving as a senior national correspondent and anchor of “Top Story” on NBC News Now, Llamas expressed his enthusiasm: “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.” This appointment makes Llamas the first Latino journalist to anchor an English-language evening network newscast in the U.S.
Born in Miami, Florida to Cuban immigrant parents who were political refugees, Llamas joined NBC News in April 2021. His initial role was as both correspondent and primetime newscast anchor for the network's streamer. Since then, he’s filled in on various NBC newscasts and co-anchored major event coverage on NBC News Now. His career began at NBC and MSNBC, including time at WTVJ in Miami and WNBC in New York, before a period at ABC News (2014-2021) as a reporter and weekend anchor for “ABC World News Tonight.” His return to NBC was widely seen as positioning him for a larger role within the network.