‘Today’ Announces Replacement For Hoda Kotb

Craig Melvin will replace Hoda Kotb as an anchor on “Today,” NBC’s morning show announced Thursday, keeping the major transition in-house. (Watch the video below.)

Melvin was already the news anchor on “Today” and will begin working alongside Savannah Guthrie on Jan. 13.

Guthrie made the on-air announcement, praising him as “most worthy of this” before the two embraced. She told viewers that NBC staffers erupted in applause at the news before the broadcast.

“I’m beyond excited and grateful,” Melvin told viewers Thursday in a clip shared by the show.

The morning show veteran had earlier reflected on the high visibility of the job before the official word came out.

“As someone said to me, this is an obit job,” he told The New York Times. “When you die one day, this is the first thing that gets mentioned in an obituary after it mentions you were a husband and a father.”

Kotb, whose last day is Jan. 10, was also on-hand for the on-air passing of the torch.

She announced her departure in September, saying she wanted to “try something new” and spend more time with her family.

She had been a co-anchor since 2018, the same year Melvin began as the show’s news anchor.

“You are literally made for this job,” she told Melvin. “You are that kind of good.”

Melvin was previously a national correspondent for “Today” and a reporter and anchor for NBC 4.

“This is the latest in a long line of blessings,” he said.