88-478: Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for NBC Nightly News starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. In February 2015, Williams was suspended by NBC News for six months for "misrepresent[ing] events which occurred while he was covering the Iraq War in 2003 ". Four months after
176-950: A Chinook helicopter shot down by enemy fire from a rocket-propelled grenade while covering the Invasion of Iraq in 2003, when he was in fact aboard a helicopter that followed behind it. This came after he received criticism by U.S. soldiers for embellishing the story when a segment from the January 30, 2015, broadcast recounting the incident was posted on the program's Facebook page. The revelation spurred negative press towards Williams, including some asking for him to be fired by NBC News, although Paul Rieckhoff , founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America , stated that “persecuting [Williams] over this mistake will do little to help our veterans and service members”. Amid that controversy and questions over Williams' claims that made regarding his experiences while reporting from New Orleans on
264-425: A Nightly News broadcast on January 30, 2015. He claimed that while he was flying in a military helicopter it had been "forced down after being hit by an RPG ". Soon after it aired, Williams' story was criticized by Lance Reynolds, a flight engineer on board one of the three Chinook helicopters that had been attacked. Reynolds and other crew members said Williams had been aboard a separate group of helicopters from
352-539: A Saturday evening newscast in 1961, with Sander Vanocur anchoring the NBC Saturday Night Report . Four years later, NBC correspondents Ray Scherer and Robert MacNeil were partnered at the anchor desk on The Scherer-MacNeil Report on Saturdays, continuing until 1967. At that time, the network replaced it with a second weekend airing of The Frank McGee Report , which had been airing on Sundays for several years by that point. The Saturday edition of
440-520: A conversion to HD, which was completed in 2009. The Nightly News set in Studio 3C , which had been in use since January 27, 1992, was retired on May 4, 2007. The broadcast temporarily relocated to Studio 8G on the same set as of May 8, 2007, used for the studio segments seen during the network's Sunday Night Football broadcasts and its pregame show , and where NBC's 2006 Congressional election coverage originated. After months of construction, Studio 3C
528-768: A crooked nose. His first job was as a busboy at Perkins Restaurant & Bakery . Following high school, Williams attended Brookdale Community College before transferring to the Catholic University of America and then George Washington University . He did not earn a degree, ultimately interning in the White House Press office during the administration of President Jimmy Carter . He later called leaving college one of his "great regrets". Williams first worked in broadcasting in 1981 at KOAM-TV in Pittsburg, Kansas . The following year he covered news in
616-449: A decade. Williams rose to new levels of popularity for his live spot reporting during and after the 2005 hurricane season . With the transition to Williams, the show recognized its past in its opening seconds, with small photos of past anchors and sets and the voices of John Cameron Swayze , Huntley, Brinkley, Chancellor, and Brokaw, as well as an orchestral version of the "G-E-C" NBC Chimes serving as an intro bumper, before going into
704-425: A desert landing after being attacked by Iraqi Fedayeen", with Williams aboard. In a 2007 retelling, Williams did not state that his craft had been hit but said, "I looked down the tube of an RPG that had been fired at us, and it hit the chopper in front of us." This contradicted the statements by the crew aboard the struck helicopter, who stated that their fleet was at least 30 minutes ahead of Williams' helicopter. On
792-456: A few hours. Williams has also made numerous appearances on Late Show with David Letterman . During an appearance on July 26, 2011, he demonstrated a skilled vocal impersonation of TV personality Regis Philbin . He has also appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien , where he took part in numerous skits and interviews. And then I pull off my mask, and I'm a lizard person , too. Blackout. End of episode. —Williams on 30 Rock , proposing
880-642: A linear channel, resulting in NBC Nightly News' s broadcasts on the channel being seen in the UK, both as a live broadcast and as a replay. In Hong Kong , the program is broadcast live (or delayed ) on TVB Pearl daily at 7:30 AM Hong Kong Time (corresponding to 18:30, or 6:30 PM, in the Eastern Time Zone of the U.S.). George Polk Award The George Polk Awards in Journalism are
968-410: A new NBC show to Jack Donaghy Williams made frequent guest appearances on NBC's television comedy 30 Rock , as a caricatured version of himself. In the episode " The Ones ", he is seen at home receiving proposition calls meant for Tracy Jordan. In " Audition Day ", he auditions to be a new TGS cast member. He also is seen once on the show taunting Tina Fey's character, Liz Lemon . In April 2012, on
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#17328013629351056-420: A recording he had made before his retirement was used on the program until December 14, 2007. When the show was broadcast on remote or a new substitute anchor was used, Reig recorded a new introduction in a Miami studio. Since Holt took over as anchor, the weekend editions have been voiced by Bill Wolff , who had also worked occasionally on special weekday editions when Reig was unavailable. On December 17, 2007,
1144-503: A ring toss right through our open doors, would it?' Anytime you want to cross over to the other side, baby, travel with me." In another version of the same story, Williams claimed that the rockets passed "just underneath the helicopter I was riding in." The claim was drawn into question since there are no four-star generals in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israeli helicopter doors are routinely closed during flights and
1232-587: A series of American journalism awards presented annually by Long Island University in New York in the United States. A writer for Idea Lab, a group blog hosted on the website of PBS , described the award as "one of only a couple of journalism prizes that means anything". The award is described as follows: For 75 years, LIU has been the proud home of the George Polk Awards in Journalism,
1320-598: A substantial portion of the audience it held during the Walter Cronkite era and slid to third place (where it still remains as of 2017 ) in the viewership wars. On September 11, 2001, Brokaw joined Katie Couric and Matt Lauer around 9:30 a.m., following the live attack on the South Tower of the World Trade Center , and continued to anchor all day, until after midnight. Following the collapse of
1408-602: A suicide inside the New Orleans Superdome after Katrina. CNN reported in a 2005 television documentary that Williams said he was not a witness to the suicide: "We heard the story of a man killing himself, falling from the upper deck." In 2007, Time magazine named Williams one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2009, Williams was awarded the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism by Arizona State University . At
1496-596: A three-minute commentary segment, "David Brinkley's Journal," from Washington several times a week. On June 7, 1976, NBC brought Brinkley back to the anchor desk and tried the dual-anchor approach once again. Initially, Chancellor and Brinkley both reported from New York City, however Brinkley would later return to Washington. Chancellor again became sole anchor of Nightly News on October 10, 1979, with Brinkley once again providing commentaries until he left NBC for ABC News in 1981, where he became host of that network's new Sunday morning interview show This Week . Despite
1584-407: A version of NBC Nightly News targeted at children ages 6 to 16, featuring stories aimed at children. This edition is hosted by Lester Holt and new episodes premiere every Thursday on NBC News' YouTube channel. Beginning on October 31, 2020, occasional editions of NBC Nightly News: Kids Edition have aired on Saturdays on NBC. The following are people who have been the principal news anchors for
1672-419: A whole; it was unveiled by NBC during an event honoring of 75 years of televised newscasts on NBC. The rebrand includes a new on-air graphics scheme intended to create fewer distractions from the content of stories, as well as a new stylized “N” emblem (reminiscent of the network's 1979–86 "Proud N" logo) that can be split apart to display headlines, and is better-suited for digital platforms. NBC first offered
1760-474: Is broadcast live over most NBC stations from 6:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time seven days a week; the "Western Edition" of the program occasionally features breaking news and/or updated information on news stories covered during the original telecast for Pacific Time Zone viewers, and some stations in that time zone carry it live at 3:30 p.m. PT to lead into their late afternoon local news blocks. Its current theme music, " The Mission " (which debuted in 1985)
1848-479: Is the first African-American solo weeknight anchor of a major network newscast. Max Robinson was co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1978 to 1983, and Gwen Ifill was a co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour from 2013 to 2016. On June 27, 2016, NBC Nightly News switched to a full 16:9 letterbox presentation, with the existing graphics package being re-positioned for the 16:9 format. On October 10, 2016,
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#17328013629351936-753: Is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News , the news division of the NBC television network in the United States. First aired on August 3, 1970, the program is currently the second most watched network newscast in the United States, behind ABC 's World News Tonight . NBC Nightly News is produced from Studio 1A at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City . Selected Los Angeles –based editions broadcast from The Brokaw News Center in Universal City, California , or when broadcasting from Washington, D.C. , either from
2024-488: The Late Show with David Letterman and on Nightly News itself only a few nights before several war veterans who had been with Williams in 2002 claimed that Williams had not been present at the time of the crash, but showed up about an hour later to report on it. Williams issued an apology, saying he had "misremembered" the story in his head and it had been a genuine accident, but many critics accused Williams of fabricating
2112-569: The 2001 anthrax attacks . Brokaw was not harmed, but two NBC News employees were infected. On April 18, 2007, NBC News received a package containing a "multimedia manifesto" from Seung-Hui Cho , the gunman responsible for the Virginia Tech shooting that occurred two days earlier, the deadliest school shooting in American history. Upon the package's discovery, NBC News handed the package over to federal authorities. The specific details of
2200-540: The 2020 United States presidential election . Williams announced on the November 9, 2021, episode of The 11th Hour with Brian Williams that he would be leaving NBC News and MSNBC at the expiration of his contract the following month, after five years hosting the show and 28 years with the company. His final episode as host was December 9, 2021. On November 13, 1999, and November 14, 1999, Williams served as host for NBC Sports ' first live broadcasts of NASCAR races at
2288-543: The George Polk Award and the duPont-Columbia University Award for its Katrina coverage. Vanity Fair called Williams' work on Katrina "Murrow-worthy" and reported that during the hurricane, he became "a nation's anchor". The New York Times characterized Williams' reporting of the hurricane as "a defining moment". However, Williams' statements about Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath were received with scrutiny. For example, Williams referred inconsistently to
2376-522: The Greek Civil War . In 2008, Josh Marshall 's blog , Talking Points Memo , was the first blog to receive the Polk Award in recognition of its reporting on the 2006 U.S. Attorneys dismissal scandal . In 2009, John Darnton , a former editor with The New York Times , was named curator of the George Polk Awards. In 2024, The New York Times was awarded three Polk Awards for
2464-553: The Homestead-Miami Speedway . Williams frequently appeared on The Daily Show as a celebrity guest interviewed by Jon Stewart and in 2007, made regular cameos as a giant head sidekick looking on Jon Stewart and helping out with pronunciations of foreign names and occasionally other foreign affairs all beginning at the premiere of the new Daily Show set. He appeared on the Weekend Update segment of
2552-593: The National Mall . He was the commencement speaker for Elon University 's graduating class of 2013, which included his son Douglas. Williams also collaborated on the Encyclopedia of World History from Backpack Books published in 2003. Williams has written for publications including The New York Times and Time magazine. Appearing on The Daily Show in August 2006, he told host Jon Stewart that he
2640-719: The Nightly News broadcast for lying and for having misrepresented the Iraq incident. On June 18, 2015, he was demoted to breaking news anchor for MSNBC . Journalist Malcolm Gladwell re-examined the story in a podcast episode entitled "Free Brian Williams" from his Revisionist History podcast. Gladwell argued that the evolving versions of Williams' story over many years matched the normal pattern of how human memory works. Over time, people conflate and combine different memories, shift times and locations, and misremember details large and small. Williams married Jane Gillan Stoddard, at
2728-554: The Report ran for about a year and a half. On January 4, 1969, the Huntley-Brinkley Report was expanded to Saturday evenings, with the main anchors working solo on alternating weeks. When lower-than-expected ratings occurred, the network pulled the pair off Saturdays and assigned others such as McGee and Vanocur to anchor the broadcast. On August 2, 1970, two days after the weekday Huntley-Brinkley broadcast ended,
Brian Williams - Misplaced Pages Continue
2816-679: The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster , EDSA Revolution , Loma Prieta earthquake , the fall of the Berlin Wall , and Hurricane Andrew . As anchor, Brokaw conducted the first one-on-one American television interviews with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Russian President Vladimir Putin . He was the only network anchor in Berlin when the Berlin Wall fell. Brokaw's presence slowly attracted viewers, and during
2904-584: The "mine-itis" outbreak, becoming a victim. He was also the host of the 2009 Annual Sesame Workshop Benefit Gala. The following season, he appeared in another episode “Lying is Bad”. On February 22, 2010, while covering the Winter Olympics, Williams did a skit with Brian Williams , the Canadian sportscaster of CTV Sports , on the CTV Olympic set. Some in the media dubbed this the new " Battle of
2992-715: The 1970s, when they adopted the NBC Nightly News name. When Chancellor became sole anchor of the weeknight editions in August 1971, separate anchors were named for the weekend editions. The weekend editions may occasionally be abbreviated or preempted due to NBC Sports telecasts that overrun into the program's time slot. During the NFL season, the Sunday editions air live in every time zone at 6:30 p.m. Eastern time, immediately prior to Football Night in America and Sunday Night Football . In April 2020, NBC News began producing
3080-484: The 1990s, Nightly News battled for the viewership lead with World News Tonight . He and Katie Couric hosted a prime-time newsmagazine , Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric , that aired from 1993 to 1994 before being folded into the multi-night Dateline NBC program. By 1997, NBC Nightly News had solidified its first place standing in the ratings , a spot it would retain solely for ten years. The once-dominant CBS Evening News , anchored by Dan Rather , had lost
3168-459: The 2005 Hurricane Katrina), two in 2007, one in 2009, two in 2010, one in 2011, one in 2013, and one in 2014. The 2014 Emmy honor was awarded to Nightly News for its coverage of a deadly series of tornadoes in Oklahoma , for which it also received the duPont-Columbia University Award . Williams also received a 2012 Emmy for his interview program Rock Center and a 2013 Emmy for being one of
3256-479: The Brians ", as NBC's Williams compared his own modest set to CTV's expensive Olympic studio. Williams regularly appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon , where he slow jams the news of the previous week as Fallon sings and reiterates what Williams says, with The Roots providing the musical backing. A mash-up video created by Fallon, where Williams appears to rap to hip-hop instrumentals, became popular within
3344-546: The Canadian border, NBC affiliates WDIV , WGRZ , and WPBN (through WGTQ 's HD2 channel) air live broadcasts of NBC Nightly News without cable. The Antillean, Cayman, and some of the Leeward islands air live episodes of NBC Nightly News through Miami-based NBC affiliate WTVJ , which is carried by cable provider FLOW TV as part of their lineup. NBC Nightly News is broadcast live on CNBC Europe at 12:30 AM CET (11:30 PM GMT and 10:30 PM during DST respectively), although
3432-862: The First Presbyterian Church of New Canaan, Connecticut , on June 7, 1986. They have two children: Allison , an actress, and Doug, the WCBS-TV reporter and anchor and former late-night anchor of Geico SportsNite on SportsNet New York . Williams and his wife live in New Canaan, and own a beach house in Bay Head, New Jersey and a pied-à-terre in Midtown Manhattan . NBC Nightly News NBC Nightly News or just Nightly News (titled as NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt for its weeknight broadcasts since June 22, 2015)
3520-586: The IAF's Black Hawks do not carry gunners. An IDF spokesman who was on the helicopter in question did confirm afterwards that there was Katyusha fire and, although the helicopter was not in danger, the "trajectory of the rockets was beneath us." A reference to the fall of the Berlin Wall also received scrutiny. In 2008, Williams said he was "at the Brandenburg Gate the night the wall came down", while CBS and other sources report that he did not arrive until
3608-522: The NBC News bureau based at WRC-TV in the Tenleytown neighborhood, or NBC's secondary studio overlooking Capitol Hill . Since 2015, the broadcast has been anchored by Lester Holt on weeknights, José Díaz-Balart on Saturday and Hallie Jackson since 2024 on Sunday. Previous anchors have included John Chancellor , David Brinkley , Tom Brokaw , Brian Williams and Kate Snow . The program
Brian Williams - Misplaced Pages Continue
3696-522: The NBC television network's flagship weekday evening-news program, titled since 1970 as NBC Nightly News , as well as its predecessor programs. Weekend anchors have included the following: Bill Hanrahan handled the announcing duties for the newscast until his retirement in 1983, as he had done for the predecessor Huntley-Brinkley Report . The next announcer for the program was long-time NBC staff announcer Howard Reig . He retired to Florida in 2005, but
3784-546: The Sunday edition of the programme is not shown due to the channel broadcasting live business programming on Sundays at that time of day. It also airs on the 24-hour news network OSN News in MENA Region, with the weekday editions airing immediately after their original telecast in the U.S. and the weekend edition being simulcast live. In Great Britain in 2022 and 2023, NBC News Now was available on Sky and Virgin Media as
3872-844: The Washington, D.C., area at then-independent station WTTG , then worked in Philadelphia for WCAU , then owned and operated by CBS. Beginning in 1987 he broadcast in New York City at WCBS . Williams joined NBC News in 1993, where he anchored the national Saturday Nightly News and rotated with the national "Sunday Nightly News" until 1999 and was chief White House correspondent. In the summer of 1996 he began serving as anchor and managing editor of The News with Brian Williams , broadcast on MSNBC and CNBC . Williams also served as primary substitute anchor on The NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw , and its Saturday anchor. He reported
3960-768: The West Coast installment of the 30 Rock season 6 live show, Williams portrayed a news anchor covering the Apollo 13 story. Williams was the commencement speaker at Bates College in May 2005, The Catholic University of America in May 2004, Ohio State University in June 2008, and at the University of Notre Dame in 2010. In May 2012, he spoke at the George Washington University commencement on
4048-419: The accident and death of Diana, Princess of Wales . Williams became anchor of NBC Nightly News on December 2, 2004, replacing the retiring Tom Brokaw . In December 2004, when Williams took the helm, he had to apologize for saying there are "bigger problems" than newsroom diversity. NBC News President Neal Shapiro vowed to redouble the company's minority hiring efforts. His coverage of Hurricane Katrina
4136-454: The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, including that he contracted dysentery from accidentally ingesting flood water, the news division decided to launch an internal investigation into the matter that would be conducted through its investigative unit. On February 7, 2015, Williams stated in a memo to NBC News staff that he would take himself "off the daily broadcast for the next several days," with Lester Holt substituting for him on
4224-430: The announcement of the award, Cronkite said he was one of Williams' "ardent admirers" and described him as a "fastidious newsman" who brought credit to the television news reporting profession. While anchoring the Nightly News , Williams received 12 News & Documentary Emmy Awards . For "outstanding" work as anchor and managing editor of the Nightly News , he received one Emmy in 2006 (for Nightly News coverage of
4312-431: The case on the Huntley-Brinkley Report . Brinkley's appearances were always from Washington and McGee's were always from New York. Chancellor moved between those two cities depending on his partner for the evening. In addition to Brinkley as a holdover from the Huntley-Brinkley Report , McGee had earned praise for his anchoring or co-anchoring of space flights, and Chancellor had also earned praise as McGee's co-anchor for
4400-468: The different NBC News anchors and logos whilst the show's theme song plays followed by showing the NBC News' filming station in New York (It does not appear when telecasts are filmed in other areas like Washington). From 2012 through 2016, the intro was different pictures of the earth which formed into the NBC News' filming station in New York. In September 2001, a letter containing anthrax was addressed to then NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw as part of
4488-554: The executive producers and editors of a documentary on the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum . He also shared a 2014 Emmy awarded for an NBC News Special on the Boston Marathon bombing . Based on Nielsen ratings results from late 2008, Williams' news broadcast consistently had more viewers than its two main rivals, being ABC 's World News Tonight and CBS Evening News . On this note, NBC Nightly News beat
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#17328013629354576-464: The first major award of its kind to recognize reporting across all media. This prestigious honor focuses on the intrepid, bold, and influential work of the reporters themselves, placing a premium on investigative work that is original, resourceful, and thought-provoking. The awards were established in 1949, in memory of George Polk , a CBS News correspondent who was murdered in March 1948 while covering
4664-541: The first of the three network evening news programs to make the transition (the CBS Evening News began broadcasting in HD on January 7, 2008; ABC World News Tonight began broadcasting in HD on August 25, 2008, during its coverage of the 2008 Democratic National Convention ). Most news video from on-remote locations continued to be shot in standard definition at the time, while the network's news bureaus underwent
4752-405: The helicopter that had been fired upon. Williams’ helicopter was flying about half an hour behind and was forced to make an emergency landing because of a sandstorm rather than an attack. Additional soldiers soon came forward to confirm that Williams was not in the group of helicopters that had come under fire and that Williams had inserted himself into the event. In his original on-air reporting of
4840-496: The host of Rock Center with Brian Williams , a news magazine program premiering on October 31, 2011, at 10:00 pm Eastern, replacing the canceled drama series The Playboy Club . Named after the nickname of Rockefeller Center , the New York City landmark where NBC Radio City Studios are located, the program would become the first new NBC News program to launch in primetime in nearly two decades. NBC cancelled Rock Center on May 10, 2013, due to low ratings. Additionally,
4928-469: The ice rink at Rockefeller Plaza, and cherry pickers tallied the electoral vote count on the façade of 30 Rockefeller Plaza (this tradition has continued with each election since then). Brokaw's final broadcast took place on December 1, 2004, ending 22 years on the Nightly News desk and a 21-year run as the network's chief newsman – a record tenure in NBC's history. Brian Williams , a frequent substitute for Brokaw for NBC Nightly News , succeeded him as
5016-464: The incident came to light, the network removed him from NBC Nightly News permanently and reassigned him as the breaking news anchor for MSNBC . In September 2016, Williams became the host of MSNBC's political news show, The 11th Hour . Williams announced in November 2021 that he would be leaving MSNBC and NBC News at the completion of his contract the following month, when he hosted his final episode of The 11th Hour . On October 17, 2024, Williams
5104-592: The incident on March 26, 2003, for Dateline NBC , Williams had said only that "the Chinook ahead of us was almost blown out of the sky ... by an RPG" and made an emergency landing. Introducing the piece, NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw described Williams as having "got [him]self into ... a close call in the skies over Iraq", and the story was headlined, "Target Iraq: Helicopter NBC's Brian Williams Was Riding In Comes Under Fire". A book published by NBC in 2003 said that "Army Chinook helicopters [were] forced to make
5192-469: The incident on the program's Twitter account: What timing... Fire alarm here at 30 Rock goes off at the exact same time we go on air. All is fine in the building & the show goes on. #NN KFQD simulcasts NBC Nightly News from Anchorage affiliate KTUU . NBC's Seattle, Spokane, Detroit, Buffalo, Minneapolis, Boston, Plattsburgh and Bangor affiliates are separately available through most Canadian cable companies. Because of their markets' proximity to
5280-429: The network expanded its evening newscast to Sundays, which also replaced the Sunday broadcast of The Frank McGee Report . For the first year after the Sunday broadcast began, Chancellor, Brinkley and McGee rotated on the program as they did on weeknights; there were no separate weekend anchors. The Saturday and Sunday broadcasts were respectively titled NBC Saturday Night News and NBC Sunday Night News until sometime in
5368-581: The network was also having trouble finding a permanent time slot for the program. The last show aired on June 21, 2013. Williams reportedly felt "insulted" by the program's cancellation. In September 2015, Williams returned to the air as MSNBC 's chief anchor. News events that Williams had then covered for MSNBC include Pope Francis's trip to the United States ; the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooting ; and terrorist attacks in Paris , San Bernardino , Brussels , and Nice . In January 2016, Williams also added
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#17328013629355456-436: The newscast debuted an entirely new on-air look with graphics originally optimized for the full 16:9 presentation, including a new program logo replacing variations of the previous one that had been used since November 8, 1999. On July 14, 2017, NBC Nightly News permanently moved back from Studio 3B to Studio 3C. In 2018, NBC Nightly News launched an ongoing series of specials, NBC Nightly Films . On August 11, 2021, it
5544-774: The next day. Another statement by Williams, this one regarding the Navy SEALs , also received attention. Williams said he flew into Baghdad with SEAL Team Six , but Special Operations Command spokesman Ken McGraw stated the SEALs do not embed journalists. On April 7, 2017, Williams referred to the 2017 Shayrat missile strike footage of missiles being fired from a US warship as "beautiful pictures" after quoting Leonard Cohen 's " First We Take Manhattan ". This brought widespread criticism from news organizations and social media. On February 4, 2015, Williams apologized for and recanted his then-disproven Iraq War story, which he had told on
5632-461: The opening headlines summary read by Williams; this montage was discontinued on September 17, 2007 except for weekends and nights with substitute anchors until October 2007. On December 4, 2006, Nightly News was presented with "limited commercial interruptions" through a sponsorship arrangement with Philips , marking the first time in its 36-year history that the newscast experimented with reduced advertising. During Williams' tenure as main anchor of
5720-416: The other hand, the soldiers who piloted Williams' helicopter in Iraq said no rocket-propelled grenades had been fired at the aircraft in which he was traveling, a fact that Williams did not dispute and for which he apologized. In a 2013 account, Williams said his helicopter had been "hit ... and landed very quickly". In a February 5, 2015 during interview on CNN, the pilot of the Chinook in which Williams
5808-531: The other two network programs in the Nielsen ratings all but one week from late 2008 to late 2014. In February 2015, Williams was suspended for six months from the broadcast for misrepresenting and lying about his experience in the 2003 invasion of Iraq . At the time, his salary was $ 10 million a year, with a five-year contract signed in December 2014. On October 4, 2011, it was announced that Williams would be
5896-549: The package contained a DVD disc of Cho reading from a typed manifesto (also in the package), as well as more than 40 pictures of Cho brandishing weapons, including the two handguns believed to have been used in the massacre. Some of the package's contents were shown, albeit copied from the originals and edited for profanity , on the April 18, 2007, edition of NBC Nightly News , with anchor Brian Williams and NBC chief justice correspondent Pete Williams (no relation to Brian) examining
5984-586: The package's contents in the opening moments of the broadcast. On November 29, 2011, a fire alarm went off in the studio a few seconds into the Nightly News Eastern Time Zone broadcast. Despite the false alarm, Brian Williams continued to anchor throughout the entire broadcast. Once the alarm had been turned off, Williams redid the broadcast for the Mountain and Pacific Time Zones, and other selected stations. NBC News apologized for
6072-452: The program and took over co-anchor duties in New York City, while Roger Mudd became anchor in Washington. Mudd was dropped from the broadcast and Brokaw became the solo anchor of Nightly News on September 5, 1983, the same day that his ABC competitor, Peter Jennings , became sole anchor of World News Tonight . With Brokaw being the sole anchor, the Nightly News was now completely based in New York City. Among other news items, he covered
6160-432: The program's permanent anchor on December 2, 2004. The program held onto the #1 ratings spot among the network evening newscasts from Williams' first day, averaging about 10 million viewers each week until February 2007, when it slipped behind its closest competitor World News with Charles Gibson . However, NBC Nightly News regained the lead a few months later; it has now been America's most-watched evening newscast for over
6248-531: The program, Lester Holt and Kate Snow often substituted while he was on vacation or on assignment; other substitute anchors included Katie Couric , Matt Lauer , Savannah Guthrie , Tamron Hall , Harry Smith , Jenna Wolfe , Erica Hill , Hoda Kotb , Natalie Morales and Carl Quintanilla , as well as now-former NBC anchors Ann Curry , Campbell Brown , David Gregory , Amy Robach , Peter Alexander , and John Seigenthaler . NBC Nightly News began broadcasting in high definition on March 26, 2007, becoming
6336-401: The role of chief elections anchor for MSNBC and subsequently debuted in the new role during coverage of the 2016 Iowa caucuses. As part of his chief anchor duties, Williams anchored The 11th Hour with Brian Williams , which was a nightly news and politics wrap-up show. Williams, alongside co-anchors Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid and lead analyst Nicolle Wallace , led the network's coverage of
6424-447: The season 32 premiere of Saturday Night Live , hosted by Dane Cook . He then hosted a season 33 episode on November 3, 2007, becoming the first, and still only, sitting network news anchor to host the show. Williams appeared on Sesame Street in a 2007 episode, announcing the word of the day, "squid", in a special broadcast. Williams appeared on Sesame Street again in a 2008 episode, reporting for Sesame Street Nightly News about
6512-467: The second tower, Brokaw said: This is war. This is a declaration and an execution of an attack on the United States. On May 28, 2002, Brokaw announced his retirement as anchor of Nightly News , to take effect shortly after the Presidential election in 2004 . During this last time helming the network's presidential election coverage, NBC graphic designers created images of a giant electoral map on
6600-411: The space missions of Apollo 12 and Apollo 13 . With network executives perceiving the instability of this arrangement as a factor in Nightly News losing audience share to the CBS Evening News , NBC discontinued the rotation arrangement, and McGee eventually took over for Hugh Downs as host of Today . Chancellor became the sole anchor of the program on August 9, 1971, with Brinkley providing
6688-447: The story and called for his resignation. Williams later announced that he would be taking some time off because he had become "too much a part of the news." NBC announced that weekend anchor Lester Holt would anchor the program in the interim. On June 18, 2015, NBC News and MSNBC chairman Andrew Lack announced that Lester Holt would become the main anchor of NBC Nightly News on a permanent basis effective on June 22, 2015, Holt
6776-571: The various changes, Chancellor was never able to break the grip that Walter Cronkite and the CBS Evening News had on the American news viewer, although Nightly News was sometimes a strong second place in the evening news ratings for most of the 1970s. After stepping down from the anchor desk on April 2, 1982, Chancellor remained on the program as an editorial commentator until his retirement in 1993. On April 5, 1982, Tom Brokaw , who had been serving as anchor of Today since 1976, joined
6864-459: The weeknight broadcast introduced an opening by Academy Award winning actor/producer Michael Douglas until it was discontinued on June 18, 2015, and was replaced by Wolff. NBC Nightly News and all NBC News programs had an animation of the Statue of Liberty for their opening sequences from September 1985 to April 1988. From late 2007 through 2012, the intro commenced with a timeline showing
6952-504: The weeknight broadcasts. On February 10, 2015, Williams was suspended without pay for six months due to the scandal which arose after he came under fire for fabricating a story about his reporting on the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina. Williams claimed to have been reporting in Iraq in 2002 when the helicopter he was traveling on was hit by an RPG and he was forced to land. He had told the story several times, including his appearances on
7040-707: Was announced as the host for Election Night coverage for Amazon. Born on May 5, 1959, in Ridgewood, New Jersey , Williams was raised in a "loud" Catholic home of largely Irish descent. He is the son of Dorothy May (née Pampel) and Gordon Lewis Williams, who was an executive vice president of the National Retail Merchants Association, in New York. Williams is the youngest of four siblings. He lived in Elmira, New York , for nine years before moving to Middletown Township, New Jersey , when he
7128-491: Was announced that executive producer Jennifer Suozzo would be departing the program and Meghan Rafferty would be interim executive producer on August 16, 2021. On September 13, 2021, NBC Nightly News permanently moved from Studio 3C to Studio 1A, also the home of Today . On June 19, 2023, NBC Nightly News underwent its first large-scale rebrand since the Brian Williams era as part of a wider rebranding of NBC as
7216-562: Was composed by John Williams . NBC Nightly News replaced The Huntley–Brinkley Report on August 3, 1970 upon Chet Huntley 's retirement. At first, David Brinkley , John Chancellor , and Frank McGee rotated duties as anchors. At least one, usually two, and very rarely all three anchored the program on a given night. Except for the few nights when one of the men solo anchored, each evening's program included one anchor based in New York City and one in Washington, D.C. , as had been
7304-578: Was in junior high school. Williams graduated from Mater Dei High School , a Roman Catholic high school in the New Monmouth section of Middletown. While in high school, he was a volunteer firefighter for three years at the Middletown Township Fire Department. Williams was also the editorial editor for the school newspaper during his high school years. He suffered an accident during a football game that left him with
7392-411: Was nearly hit the previous month by Katyusha rockets fired from Lebanon by Hezbollah while flying in an Israeli Air Force (IAF) Black Hawk helicopter: "Here's a view of rockets I have never seen, passing underneath us, 1,500 feet beneath us. And we've got the gunner doors on this thing, and I'm saying to the general, some four-star : 'It wouldn't take much for them to adjust the aim and try to do
7480-554: Was on a scheduled vacation on the day of the announcement, with Today presenter Savannah Guthrie serving as interim anchor of the broadcast that week. After his suspension ended in August, Brian Williams was reassigned to MSNBC where he previously served as both an anchor and correspondent. Holt previously served as interim anchor of the weeknight broadcasts from August 6, 2013 to September 2, 2013, when Williams went on medical leave from NBC News in order to undergo knee replacement surgery. With his promotion to main anchor, Holt
7568-522: Was re-opened on October 22, 2007, with the introduction of a new set for Nightly News ; sister cable network MSNBC 's new set in Studio 3A was also inaugurated at that time. On October 24, 2011, the broadcast moved to Studio 3B, which also served as the homebase of Williams' short-lived newsmagazine for NBC, Rock Center . On February 4, 2015, Williams apologized on the program for having “conflated” on numerous occasions an account that he had been aboard
7656-457: Was traveling said that while the aircraft did not sustain RPG fire, it did indeed sustain small-arms fire and that the door gunners returned fire. Williams then claimed that several rounds missed him “by inches”, which the Chinook crew chief denied. On February 10, 2015, NBC News President Deborah Turness suspended Williams without pay for six months from his position as Managing Editor and Anchor of
7744-408: Was widely praised, particularly "for venting his anger and frustration over the government's failure to act quickly to help the victims." The network was awarded a Peabody , the committee concluding that "Williams, and the entire staff of NBC Nightly News exemplified the highest levels of journalistic excellence." Williams accepted the award on behalf of the organization. NBC Nightly News also earned
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