Video: Craig Melvin debuts as ‘Today’ co-anchor with a longtime tradition

NBC News welcomed Craig Melvin to the “Today” anchor desk Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, after he officially became the broadcast’s named co-anchor after Hoda Kotb departed the broadcast Jan. 10, 2025.

At the top of the show, co-anchor Savannah Guthrie and Melvin enjoyed a “Today” tradition — playing back the audio clip of the show’s announcer saying the new anchor’s name (in this case, it was “and Craig Melvin.”)

The open sequence itself remained the same, just with Melvin’s named taking over the place previously occupied by Kotb’s (Guthrie, as the senior anchor in terms of tenure, still gets first billing).

In recent years, Melvin had become a de facto third co-anchor of the show, typically joining the anchor desk when it returned from its first break at around 7:30 a.m., though his name was not included in the open.

Starting Jan. 13, Carson Daly, another frequent “Today” personality who typically handles the show’s “Pop Start” segment, joined Melvin and Guthrie at the anchor desk about 30 minutes into the show in much the same way Melvin did before Kotb’s departure. Daly continued to head up the full “Pop Start” segment later in the broadcast.