Prior to his farewell, Holt appeared on the Today show and spoke with co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin about his Nightly News tenure. “The timing just seemed right,” he remarked. “I never wanted to be one of those people that was totally associated with just one thing. I always think you have to have something else in your life.”
Speaking of his new Dateline role, Holt said that “long-form [journalism] is something I really wanted to get my teeth into; it’s a different set of news muscles.”
Holt’s departure from the Nightly News leaves ABC News’ World News Tonight anchor David Muir as the longest-tenured network evening news anchor. Norah O’Donnell left the CBS Evening News in January for a broader senior correspondent role at the embattled network.
