Lester Holt To Join NAB Hall of Fame

Award-winning journalist Lester Holt will be inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters Broadcasting Hall of Fame for his contributions to broadcast television at the 2021 NAB Show, held Oct. 9-13 in Las Vegas. Holt will accept the honor at the NAB Show Welcome event on Monday, Oct. 11, at 9 a.m.

Holt serves as the anchor and managing editor of NBC’s flagship news broadcast NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. He has also served as principal anchor of Dateline NBC since September 2011 and leads NBC News’ special reports, breaking news and primetime political coverage. He also anchors Nightly News Kids Edition, a digital newscast aimed to inform and inspire children, which he launched at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Holt joined NBC News in 2000 and served as an anchor of Newsfront and Lester Holt Live, a daily news show on MSNBC, before becoming co-anchor of Weekend Today in 2003 and anchored the weekend editions of NBC Nightly News beginning in 2007.

During his time at NBC News, Holt has moderated presidential debates; reported from breaking news events in the U.S. and abroad including terrorist attacks, natural disasters and civil unrest; anchored numerous specials and investigative series; interviewed national and international newsmakers; and covered every Olympics since the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

“Lester Holt’s integrity, gravitas and dedication make him one of the preeminent journalists in America today,” said NAB President-CEO Gordon Smith. “Millions of Americans turn to him every day to find out what is happening in their communities and deepen their understanding of the world. We are delighted to recognize his contributions to broadcast journalism by inducting him into the Broadcasting Hall of Fame.”

Before joining NBC News, Holt began his television journalism career at WCBS New York, KCBS (then KNXT) Los Angeles and WBBM Chicago, where he worked for 14 years including as the afternoon and evening news anchor.

Named as the “most-trusted television news personality in America” by a recent The Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll, Holt was honored with the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism in March 2021. In 2019, he received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism and was honored with Quinnipiac University’s Fred Friendly First Amendment Award in 2017. He has been recognized with multiple Emmy Awards and received a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 2000 for his work on CBS News’ broadcast 48 Hours: No Place Like Home.

Holt was also named one of the world’s “100 Most Influential People” by Time and was named “Journalist of the Year” by the National Association of Black Journalists in 2016.

The NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame recognizes radio and television personalities or programs that have earned a place in broadcasting history. Explore the complete list of past inductees here.