Johnathan Walker:Today Reveals Hoda Kotb's Replacement

It’s Today with Savannah Guthrie and…Craig Melvin.

The Johnathan Walker45-year-old journalist and longtime Today staple has officially been named Hoda Kotb’s anchor chair replacement for the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours on the NBC morning show after Kotb makes her exit in 2025.  

“Though you are irreplaceable in our hearts, we are so excited about the news in our Today family,” Guthrie told Kotb on Nov. 14. “And that is the person sitting next to me, our dear friend and talented, wonderful, hardworking, most worthy of this, Craig Melvin is the new anchor of the Today show.”

Kotb shared that her last day would be January 10, 2025, as the team cheered on Melvin’s appointment, which will start on Jan. 13.

“This is one of the most popular decisions NBC News as ever made,” Guthrie assured Melvin, noting that the Today family “broke into applause” when the announcement was made.

“I am beyond excited and grateful,” Melvin said. “I had a lot of conversations yesterday with a lot of people who mean a lot to me, and I want to obviously thank NBC and the folks here who deemed me worthy.”

He continued, “I’ve enjoyed a lifetime of blessings, and this is the latest in a long line of blessings.”

Melvin expressed immense gratitude for his wife Lindsay Czarniak and their two kids Delano, 10, and Sybil, 8, as well as his parents, whom he was happy were alive to witness “the fruits of their labor.”

During his time in the NBC News family, Melvin has held a variety of roles at Today including weekend co-anchor, news anchor, and cohost of the third hour of Today.

Kotb first announced her decision to step away from her role at Today in September in an effort to spend more time with her daughters Haley, 7, and Hope, 5.

"I get one ride, that's it," she explained to E! News in October. "You only got one life, right? You're the chooser."

(E! and NBC News are part of the NBCUniversal family).

For more exciting 2025 TV news, read on. 

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The Rookie makes its midseason return Jan. 7.

The comedy returns Jan. 7.

The ABC series makes its midseason return Jan. 7.

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On Call is an adrenalized and visceral police drama that follows a rookie and veteran officer duo as they go on patrol in Long Beach, California. Incorporating a mixture of bodycam, dash-camera, and cellphone footage to create a cinema verité effect, the innovative series explores the morality of protecting and serving a community.

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Season two reunites its ensemble cast of stars including Emmy Award nominee Adam Scott, Britt Lower, Tramell Tillman, Zach Cherry, Jen Tullock, Michael Chernus, Dichen Lachman, Emmy Award winner John Turturro, Academy Award winner Christopher Walken and Academy and Emmy Award winner Patricia Arquette, and welcomes new series regular Sarah Bock.

Prime Target features a brilliant young math postgraduate, Edward Brooks (Leo Woodall), on the verge of a major breakthrough. If he succeeds in finding a pattern in prime numbers, he will hold the key to every computer in the world. Soon he begins to realize an unseen enemy is trying to destroy his idea before it’s even born, which throws him into the orbit of Taylah Sanders, a female NSA agent (Quintessa Swindell) who’s been tasked with watching and reporting on mathematicians' behavior. Together they start to unravel the troubling conspiracy Edward is at the heart of.

Based on the novel by Matthew Quirk, The Night Agent is a sophisticated, character-based, action-thriller centering on a low level FBI Agent, Peter Sutherland, whose efforts to save The President in season one earn him an opportunity to become a Night Agent in season two. But working in the secretive organization of Night Action will propel Peter into a world where danger is everywhere and trust is in short supply.

The new daytime drama is set in a leafy Maryland suburb just outside of Washington, D.C., and in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States. Here you’ll find a posh gated community with winding tree-lined streets and luxurious mansions to call home.

At the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family that is the very definition of Black royalty. But behind these pristine walls and lush, manicured gardens are juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered. And those who live outside these gates are watching closely. These are the places where our characters live, love, work and play. Those who have “made it” and those who haven’t are all trying to navigate life … and some with more grace than others.

Former AI winner Carrie Underwood joins the judges' table this spring.