New "Nightly News" anchor spent time in Columbus
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Tom Llamas is now anchoring "NBC Nightly News." Photo: Dom Donahue, courtesy of NBCUniversal
The newest face in national evening news has ties to Columbus, and says his time in Ohio will affect his approach to filling some of the biggest shoes in the game.
Why it matters: Tom Llamas took the reins of "NBC Nightly News" from legendary broadcaster Lester Holt on Monday, becoming anchor and managing editor of one of the longest running and highest rated news shows on TV.
The intrigue: Llamas, 45, is also anchor of "Top Story with Tom Llamas," and has worked as an intern, production assistant, reporter and correspondent.
- He'll be just the fourth permanent "Nightly News" anchor in the last 40 years.
Flashback: As a young reporter, Llamas spent time in Columbus embedded with candidate Al Sharpton during the 2004 presidential race.
- "I'll never forget it," he tells Axios, reminiscing about Hoggy's BBQ.
Columbus introduced Llamas, a Miami native and graduate of Loyola University New Orleans, to a Midwestern audience — one he wants to ensure remains part of his national work.
- "I'm a firm believer that your newsroom should look like the community you cover," he says. "So if we're a national newsroom, we need to have voices from the Midwest, the South and the West. … The last thing you want is a national newscast telling you about your own community."
Zoom in: Llamas says keeping tabs on communities like Columbus is key in a post-pandemic world, as many of the fastest-growing areas in the country are now in states like Ohio, Florida and Texas, rather than the coasts.
- Impacts made on those areas will be key to understanding national trends, he says.
- "Ohio is one of those places where you think about the tariffs and what's going to happen — if they stick and people reinvest, or if it doesn't work at all and does more harm."
The bottom line: Replacing Holt, one of the country's most visible anchors, isn't an easy task, but Llamas says he's excited to "keep his legacy alive" while putting his fingerprints on the show and staying hands-on as a reporter, not just an anchor.
- "People have grown to trust 'Nightly News,' so I'm not going to go up there and have it look completely different," he says with a laugh. "But little by little, I do want to put my stamp on it."
Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect that Tom Llamas was embedded with candidate Al Sharpton (not Howard Dean) during the 2004 presidential race.