new York
CNN
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Craig Melvin will become co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” show starting early next year, following the departure of Hoda Kotb.

He will join Savannah Guthrie on Monday January 13. Kotb’s last day on the morning show will be Friday, Jan. 10, the network said. announcement. Melvin is a familiar face to “Today” viewers, having appeared on the program in various roles for nearly 14 years.

Currently, Melvin is the news anchor, joining Guthrie and Kotb in the office at 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. and co-hosting the 9:00 a.m. show with Al Roker, Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones. He will continue to co-host The Final Hour in addition to his new role.

Guthrie announced the news on Thursday’s show, saying the Today staff “clapped” and that it was one of the “most popular decisions NBC News has ever made.”

Melvin, 45, said he was “beyond excited and grateful” for the new role.

He is “an integral and beloved part of our family,” Libby Leist, senior vice president of Today, said in a statement. “From covering on-the-ground news to presidential interviews, including multiple Olympics and Super Bowls, Craig has shown he has the talent and diversity to cover everything we do here at Today. And it does so without ever losing that Southern charm.

Kotb announced in September that she was leaving her role as co-anchor after nearly a decade on the job. “It was time for me to move on at 60,” Kotb previously said. “I decided it was the right time to move on.

She also co-hosted the 10 a.m. show with Jenna Bush Hager. NBC announced that the fourth hour would be renamed “Jenna & Friends” following Kotb’s departure until a permanent co-host was named.