Tom Brokaw announces retirement from NBC News after 55 years

The network added that the 80-year-old anchor would continue to write books and remain active as a print journalist

Tom Brokaw announces retirement from NBC News after 55 years (Getty Images)

Tom Brokaw has announced he is retiring from NBC News after 55 years with the network. 

The veteran anchor, 80, used his final statement on Friday (January 22) to pay tribute to his colleagues and thank them for their support.  

“During one of the most complex and consequential eras in American history, a new generation of NBC News journalists, producers and technicians is providing America with timely, insightful, and critically important information, 24/7. I could not be more proud of them,” he said.

Brokaw has worked at NBC in a number of capacities since 1966. He’s perhaps best known for anchoring NBC Nightly News from 1982 through 2004. In recent years, he has been a senior correspondent. In a press release, NBC said that “Brokaw will continue to be active in print journalism, authoring books and articles, and spend time with his wife, Meredith, three daughters, and grandchildren.”

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When Brokaw first started at the network, he worked at the Los Angeles bureau, covering Ronald Reagan's first run for office and anchoring the nightly newscast at KNBC.

In 1973, Brokaw became the network's Washington correspondent, where he covered Watergate and Richard Nixon's resignation from the presidency.

Three years later, he became the co-host of Today with Jane Pauley. In 1982, he and Roger Mudd co-anchored Nightly News, but he became the sole anchor and managing editor the following year.

In 2014, Brokaw was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Looking back on what he wanted for his legacy, Brokaw told Artful Living in January 2020, “I hope that I was a caring person, that I tried to give back as much as I could to my community and that my wife has been tolerant of my excesses. I made mistakes along the way, and I like to think we worked things out. We have these fantastic children and grandchildren.”

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