The times, as they say, they are a’changing. Gone is Lester Holt. In is NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas. And it’s a whole new era from Studio 1A at 30 Rock.
Lester Holt was the venerable anchor of the long-running news program, earning the moniker of “Most Trusted Man in News.”
He did so, in spite of the program continually finishing in second place– at times by a wide margin — to ABC World News Tonight with David Muir. So, it could almost be viewed as Wendy’s being rated as the tastiest fast food burger, even though McDonald’s mops the floor with its competitors.
But that speaks to the level of Holt. Not only in name recognition, but with credibility and authenticity. People knew Lester Holt. And trusted him.
So when a relative newcomer like Tom Llamas is named as the replacement for Holt, there’s undeniably going to be an adjustment period. And while the ratings slumped in his first week, Llamas has regained or even in some instances surpassed what had been established by Holt during his final weeks and months leading the nightly newscast.
I watched Friday’s newscast to get a feel for what a program led by Tom Llamas felt like, especially compared to what the program felt like when it was anchored by Holt.
Having covered CBS Evening News, ABC World News Tonight, and NBC Nightly News under Holt in this space, I have the same reaction to begin each episode: the two-minute “here’s what you’re about to see” montage — or at least, in NBC’s case, the 90-second version — has to go. Don’t tell me what I’m about to see. Show it to me. Now. As fast as you can. With as much information and detail available. And then hit me with the next story. People consume their news drastically differently than they did during the days of The Huntley-Brinkley Report. Let’s evolve, shall we?
The immediate reaction from the standup to being the show from Llamas is that he has a firm grasp of the cadence required of a nightly newscast anchor. Perhaps moving just slightly too quickly, Llamas exudes a palpable energy. It’s clear he’s passionate about his role. Immediately. It’s nice to see.
As the show continues, I can’t help but get the feeling that Llamas — despite his lack of widespread name recognition and familiarity — is incredibly polished. He plays the role of anchorman well. The manniersims. The understanding of the subject matter. Furthermore, the idea that the viewer doesn’t want their time wasted.
There isn’t a lot of superfluous movement during NBC Nightly News, which I liked during Holt’s tenure, too. It’s a much faster-paced rundown of the day’s news than its counterparts at ABC and CBS News. Efficiency is the name of the game, and Llamas has that down.
Perhaps the one big criticism I had with Llamas during the opening segment was when he asked questions of his correspondent colleagues, he didn’t put enough emphasis on the upward inflection at the end of a question as you might expect. Nitpicking, certainly, but he asked a question of Gabe Gutierrez at the White House about the potential resignation of Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino, that didn’t exactly sound like he was asking a question. It was almost too news anchor-y, and not as conversational as one might like or expect.
But if that’s the biggest takeaway or criticism of Llamas, then I would say things are going quite well. I came away from the newscast feeling as if the new NBC Nightly News anchor was already — in spite of only being on the job as the top anchor for six weeks — smoothly operating the show. He comes across as completely polished.
If those at ABC News thought that with Lester Holt departing that NBC News would see a large drop-off, like CBS News did after the exit of Norah O’Donnell, I can’t help but think those hopes have already been dashed. NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas is absolutely a formidable opponent for the David Muir-led show at ABC News. It will be interesting to see how the ratings races between total viewers and the key Adults 25-54 demographic shake out as Llamas is the youngest of the network newscast anchor bunch.
That youthfulness, however, isn’t inexperience. At least, it doesn’t feel like inexperience. Tom Llamas doesn’t seem out of place behind the desk at NBC Nightly News. And that will, and likely already has, made a world of difference for the network.
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Garrett Searight is Barrett Media’s News Editor, which includes writing daily news stories, features, and opinion columns. He joined Barrett Media in 2022 after a decade leading several radio brands in several formats, as well as a 5-year stint working in local television. In addition to his work with Barrett Media, he is a radio and TV play-by-play broadcaster. Reach out to him at Garrett@BarrettMedia.com.
