Brian Williams has been permanently removed from the anchor chair at “NBC Nightly News,” according to a report Wednesday evening in the New York Post.
“Multiple sources confirmed to Page Six that after weeks of complex negotiations NBC is likely to announce Thursday that Lyin’ Brian is out of the anchor chair, but will remain a part of the news division,” wrote Post reporter Emily Smith.
According to the Post, NBC avoided firing him outright in part from fears that he might just go elsewhere.
The Los Angeles Times, citing “people familiar with the plan,” reported that Mr. Williams “will be assigned to handling breaking news on cable network MSNBC.”
Mr. Williams was MSNBC’s first anchorman, but he led it in the 1990s before its rebranding during the Bush administration.
MSNBC grew by leaps and bounds upon becoming an overtly progressive news outlet, centered on shows hosted by leftist commentators such as Ed Schultz, Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. But its ratings never came close to those of conservative-leaning rival Fox News Channel and have been flagging a bit.
The Post sources said it wasn’t clear how much the five-year, $50 million contract Mr. Williams signed with NBC last December will be honored.
One of the Post’s sources said that Lester Holt, who has led the “NBC Nightly News” broadcast during Mr. Williams’ six-month suspension over charges of embellishing his war reportage, “is certain to be promoted to anchor” permanently.
Mr. Holt would be the first black man to be the sole weekday anchor of one of the major broadcast networks’ nightly news programs.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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