Craig Melvin named Hoda Kotb's replacement on 'Today'

Craig Melvin will co-anchor Today following Hoda Kotb's departure Jan. 10.

Co-anchor Savannah Guthrie said the team will spend an entire week celebrating Kotb, and then she introduced Kotb's replacement.

"Though you are irreplaceable in our hearts, we are so excited about the news in our Today family," Guthrie added. "And that is that the person sitting right next to me, our dear friend and talented, wonderful, hardworking, most worthy of this -- Craig Melvin -- is the new anchor of the Today show."

Guthrie said that the staff applauded the news when they heard.

"He's been an integral and beloved part of our family," said Today's senior vice president, Libby Leist, in a statement. "From breaking news coverage in the field, to presidential interviews, to multiple Olympics and Super Bowls, Craig's shown he has the talent and the range to cover all that we do here at Today. And he does it without ever losing that Southern charm."

Melvin, who has spent the better part of 14 years with NBC News, will co-anchor the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours starting Jan. 13, and will remain a co-host during the third hour, Today reported.

Various co-hosts will join Jenna Bush Hager during the fourth hour until a permanent co-host is named.

"I am beyond excited and grateful," Melvin said. "I've had a lot conversations yesterday with a lot of people who mean a lot to me, and I just want to thank NBC and the folks here who deemed me worthy, but I got to start by thanking the man upstairs, thanking my lord above and his son Jesus."

Melvin described the milestone as the latest in a catalogue of his life's blessings.

He expressed gratitude that his parents could witness the moment, sharing some of the struggles they overcame.

"My dad was born in prison," Melvin said. "That didn't define him. He overcame addictions in his life and he's become one of my favorite human beings and my mom at one point picks up a second job to sacrifice and provide for our family so I'm grateful to them."

He said he was thankful, too, for his wife, Lindsay Czarniak, and their two children.

Kotb announced her departure in September, after more than five years in the co-anchor spot.

"Craig, you were made for this job," she told him. "You were literally made for this job, you are that kind of good. You have all the things that this job needs. You're the right person for it."