After 17 years, it’s Hoda Kotb’s last ‘Today’ show

This may be tough to remember, as the tears and outrageous stories flow this morning during Hoda Kotb’s final appearances on NBC’s Today show.

Once upon a time, when she was working with Kathie Lee Gifford, Kotb was considered the most serious adult in the TV room.

This notion stretches back to 2007, when Kotb, then best known as a correspondent for Dateline NBC and NBC News, took over as host of a fourth hour of the network’s long-running morning program, the Today show. By April 2008, she was joined by co-host Gifford – herself returning to morning TV eight years after leaving the syndicated show Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee – creating a team where Gifford brought wacky comic energy, Kotb was a bit more centered and they both drank a fair amount of wine.

But as times changed, so did Kotb’s role in the Today family — particularly when she ascended to co-host on the Today show alongside Savannah Guthrie in 2018, elevated after Matt Lauer was fired from the program amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Two women were now the lead anchors on Today, creating a powerful symbolism just as terrible revelations were surfacing about several men in the industry.

It was part of a mini-revolution in morning TV sparked by the #MeToo movement – elsewhere, Gayle King became the first-among-equals anchor at CBS This Morning in 2017 after co-anchor Charlie Rose was fired amid similar misconduct allegations.

A year later, with the less-wacky Jenna Bush Hager succeeding Gifford as co-host of Today‘s fourth hour in 2019, Kotb was well-positioned for a role as the emotional heart of NBC’s morning news franchise, tackling heartwarming features and stunts. She even officiated weddings and vow renewal ceremonies on camera (she’s also an ordained minister). Over the years, she’s shared poignant personal experiences ranging from a battle with cancer to the end of her long-running engagement to beau Joel Schiffman.

Which means, when she walks off camera today after a live edition of Today with Hoda & Jenna that reportedly will be filled with surprises, Kotb will be taking a fair amount of the show’s emotional depth with her – which may be a deeper loss than anyone realizes.

Saying goodbye as the media industry changes

When Kotb announced in September she would be stepping down as co-anchor on Today – though reports have said she will remain “in the NBC family,” whatever that means – it was a shock for fans who had watched her since she joined the network in 1998. Born in Oklahoma to Egyptian Muslim parents, she worked her way up to NBC News after stints as an anchor and reporter at local stations in Mississippi, Florida and Louisiana.

Last year, Kotb said she decided to leave Today after turning 60 in August, reasoning she had reached the top of the morning TV heap and wanted to spend more time with her children. But Dylan Byers, who covers the TV industry for Puck, wrote Kotb also made the decision after NBC proposed a cut to her salary, which Byers reported was above $20 million annually.

Kotb’s news came as other big name anchors departed major jobs – Norah O’Donnell will soon step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News and Chris Wallace left CNN after three years – sparking speculation and reports that several TV talents were balking at salary cuts offered by their employers.

What’s next for Today

None of that will likely surface at Kotb’s farewell from Today, where news anchor and longtime third hour co-host Craig Melvin has been named her successor as co-anchor alongside Guthrie. Bush Hager will host the show’s fourth hour with a succession of co-hosts at first, including Taraji P. Henson, Eva Longoria and Scarlett Johansson.

This week, the show has plunged into what it’s calling a “Hoda-bration,” with segments featuring well-wishes from celebrities like Colman Domingo and Viola Davis, along with the marching band from her alma mater, Virginia Tech, and the return of a couple whose wedding she officiated on camera — after the groom originally proposed on the show.

“Witnessing someone’s life change is pretty cool,” Kotb said, recalling the ceremony while wiping away tears.

Viewers of Today over the years could say the same about Kotb, who became a morning TV star under their watch, now leaving the franchise to forge a new path in an uncertain media climate.