Craig Melvin will replace after nearly two decades.
Melvin, a news anchor of “TODAY” and a co-host of the 3rd hour of “TODAY,” made the announcement on the show Thursday morning. He will co-anchor alongside Savannah Guthrie for the 7 and 8 a.m. hours beginning Jan. 13.
“I am beyond excited and grateful,” an emotional Melvin said. “I’ve enjoyed just a lifetime of blessings and this is the latest in a long line of blessings.”
Kotb said he was “literally made for this job.”
“You have all the things this job needs,” she said. “You are the right person for it.”
Kotb will remain as co-anchor until Jan. 10, calling it a “party day.” She said she made the decision to step down after she turned 60 in August.
“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new,” she told her fellow hosts in September as she fought back tears.
Kotb has co-anchored the show with Savannah Guthrie since early 2018, becoming the first all-female anchor team.
Guthrie told Kotb that while she is “irreplaceable in our hearts,” she was excited about Melvin’s new role and called him “talented, wonderful, hard-working, most-worthy.”
Legendary “TODAY” weatherman and co-host Al Roker joined from Zoom to congratulate Melvin.
“I knew that this day would come. I’ve watched you grow. I’ve seen you as a journalist but more importantly, I’ve seen you as a dad, as a son, all the things that make you who you are,” he said. “I am so proud and so happy for you right now because you are so worthy of this.”
“I love you. I love you. Thank you,” Melvin responded as his co-hosts handed him a box of tissues with his face on it.
Melvin went on to call Kotb and Guthrie his “sisters.”
“It means a lot to inherit this from you,” he said, speaking to Kotb. “You’ve been the heart of this place for a long time. You helped save this show. You helped save this show.”
Speaking to Guthrie, he added: “And to be able to sit next to someone who I knew was smart for years and all of a sudden you start working with her and you’re like, ‘wait a minute, she’s funny too.’”
Libby Leist, executive vice president of “TODAY,” said in a memo to staff that they were “thrilled to have Craig in the co-anchor chair” and he will continue his role as co-host of The 3rd Hour of “TODAY” alongside Roker, Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer.
Melvin has been at NBC News for nearly 14 years. He previously held roles at “TODAY” and has covered breaking news in the field, multiple Olympic and Super Bowl games and presidential interviews.
