Kate Snow to Drop ‘NBC Nightly News’ Sunday Anchor Duties

Brian Steinberg
·3 min read
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Kate Snow, the NBC News veteran who has anchored the network’s Sunday broadcast of “NBC Nightly News” since 2015, plans to exit the post next week, she disclosed to viewers of the program Sunday evening, citing growing responsibilities tied to streaming content.

The move may be a sign that her presence is needed elsewhere. Snow, who is also a senior national correspondent for NBC News, has since September of 2022 co-anchored parts of “NBC News Daily,” a set of daytime hours that both stream on NBC News Now and appear in the daytime schedules of all NBC affiliates. NBC News has placed increasing emphasis on reaching viewers with streaming content, and has continued to expand the original programming it offers in that venue. Those duties, plus those that have Snow reporting on stories during the week for “Today” and the weekday broadcasts of “NBC Nightly News,” have begun to add up.

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“Our audience on ‘NBC News Daily’ is growing fast, and I have decided after a lot of thought to focus my attention Monday through Friday, on that role. So next Sunday will be my last Sunday anchoring ‘Nightly News,’ Snow said. “I will miss the team that you don’t see behind the cameras here but I’ll still continue to be part of the ‘Nightly News’ family, reporting and contributing.”

Others at NBC News have been dispatched to streaming from linear duties in the recent past. Hallie Jackson ceded an hour-long program on MSNBC to devote more time to an early-evening program on NBC News Now, with executives suggesting viewership activity helped guide their actions.

The shift opens up the Sunday-evening perch, which can serve as a springboard to more visible duties. NBC News declined to comment on potential Sunday successors for Snow. The news division is expected to unveil those plans in weeks to come. A rotation of anchors will be utilized on the Sunday broadcast of “NBC Nightly News” after Snow’s final broadcast next week. The network has a broad roster of potential candidates, including anchors such as Jose Diaz Balart, who leads the Saturday edition of “Nightly,” or Tom Llamas, who arrived at NBC News in 2021 with no small amount of speculation that he was seen as a possible successor for general “Nightly” duties. Many others are likely to be considered.

Lester Holt anchors the weekday version of “NBC Nightly News,” and has recently presided over a narrowing of the audience gap between that program and ABC’s “World News Tonight.” The ABC evening newscast has seen its viewership among people between 25 and 54 — the audience most coveted by advertisers — fall by more than 20% season to date as of February 11, according to data from Nielsen.

Snow initially joined NBC News in 2010 after stints at ABC News, where she covered the White House, as well as CNN. During her time at NBC News, she has stood out for an exclusive 2018 interview on “Dateline” with Andrea Constand, who broke her 13-year silence about the case that led to Bill Cosby’s conviction. The report won an Emmy. She also led a “Dateline” special that has 27 of the comedian’s accusers in one room, which was awarded both an Emmy and a duPont award. In 2021, Snow anchored a special edition of Sunday’s “Nightly News” devoted to gun violence in the United States.

“Kate’s dedication to ‘Nightly’ and its viewers has been nothing short of inspiring. She works tirelessly and has that rare gravitas, earned throughout her distinguished career marked by dogged reporting and powerful interviews. She cares deeply about her work and the profound and positive impact it can have on the world, and that compassion extends to those of us who work with her behind the camera,’ said Janelle Rodriguez, the NBC News executive vice president who oversees both “Nightly” and streaming operations. “She’s a loyal colleague, a mentor and a friend.”

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