Stone Phillips, NBC part ways

“Dateline’s” Stone Phillips will be leaving NBC at the end of June after the network declined to renew his contract as part of a corporate belt-tightening effort.

The departure of Phillips, a 15-year veteran of’ NBC, comes after the news division trimmed staff in the fall and dropped “Nightly News” weekend anchor John Seigenthaler when his contract expired earlier this spring. In all, the network’s 6,000-person news operation is expected to shrink by about 400 positions over two years.

“Dateline” -- which currently runs three nights a week but is scheduled to air only on Saturday nights in the fall -- will continue to be anchored by Ann Curry and a rotating cast of correspondents, network officials said.

Phillips and then-co-anchor Jane Pauley launched “Dateline” in 1992, and for a time the news magazine was so successful that it aired five nights a week. The program continues to serve as the primary vehicle for breaking news specials but has a much smaller regular presence in prime time.

In a statement, Phillips said he was “profoundly appreciative of the many friends and colleagues, past and present, who have been a part of the ‘Dateline’ family,” adding that “this is a great news division with a bright future.” The anchor did not indicate what he plans to do next.