‘NBC Nightly News’ anchor Tom Llamas on why the evening news still matters

On ‘The Poynter Report Podcast,’ Llamas talks about news as coffee — familiar, habitual and deeply personal

Once upon a time, the evening network news — with legendary anchors such as Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw — attracted a combined 60 or 70 million viewers.

These days, that number is significantly smaller. But it remains meaningful.

Today’s combined audience for the evening news on ABC, CBS and NBC is in the 15 to 20 million range. And in a world of cable and streaming, that many people sitting down to watch the evening news still makes it appointment television for news consumers.

That was among the many topics I discussed with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas in the latest episode of “The Poynter Report Podcast.”