In 1985, Nykanen won the Emmy for Investigative Journalism in the Segments category for his on-camera reporting for "Military Medicine", an exposé on malpractice in the U.S. military that aired on "NBC Nightly News". Nykanen also investigated the use of dangerous pesticides and the regulatory failures of the FDA, for which he won an Emmy. He retired from NBC in 1988. Following this, he spent some years providing news copy for the television show "Hard Copy", including the writing and directing of much of its coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial. He also later wrote for the Lifetime television show "Beyond Chance".