Despite their unhappy reactions to the bourbon, Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie and the rest of the NBC team showed a lot of excitement and encouragement toward Craig Melvin about his new job. Guthrie shared that the announcement among the staff led to people breaking into applause, and Kotb said this to Melvin:

Craig Melvin, who has served as the de facto third co-anchor for the show for years, typically joining Kotb and co-anchor Savannah Guthrie at the anchor desk after the first half hour, though his name is not in the open and he is only typically introduced on-air briefly, will take over Jan. 13, 2024.

Hoda Kotb announced her departure from NBC’s Today show in September after almost 20 years, and now, the network has named her replacement: Craig Melvin. He will begin co-anchoring the 7 a.m. and 8 a.