{"id":18580,"date":"2025-01-15T21:09:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-15T21:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=18580"},"modified":"2025-01-15T21:09:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T21:09:31","slug":"today-viewers-weigh-in-on-craig-melvins-debut-as-hoda-kotbs-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=18580","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Today\u2019 Viewers Weigh In on Craig Melvin\u2019s Debut as Hoda Kotb\u2019s Replacement"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Hoda Kotb\u2019s last day on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/popculture.com\/tv-shows\/news\/today-show-fans-wondering-where-co-host-sheinelle-jones-has-been\/\"><em>Today<\/em>\u00a0Show<\/a>\u00a0was Friday, January 10. The longtime reporter may no longer be one of the main anchors of the morning show but she remains within the NBC family. Kotb will contribute regular stories to\u00a0<em>Today<\/em>, work on her podcast,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/podcasts\/making-space\"><em>Making Space with Hoda Kotb<\/em>,<\/a>\u00a0and will also join\u00a0<em>Today<\/em>\u00a0throughout Olympics coverage. She\u2019s been with NBC for nearly 30 years. Her replacement, Craig Melvin, has already begun.<\/p>\n<p>During his first day in Kotb\u2019s seat, Melvin kicked off his new position by reading an emotional letter from his predecessor, which moved him to tears. \u201cI\u2019m moving forward, so reach back your hand. Grab the baton, your world will expand. The adventures are endless, the people so dear. Great memories await, year after year,\u201d the letter read in part. The letter continued, \u201cDay One! You are ready surrounded by love. Your team is the kind you can only dream of. Savannah, Al [Roker] and Carson [Daly] are here! With partners like these, your runway is clear. From out on the plaza, to inside 30 Rock, your fans are so eager, they\u2019re watching the clock. The time has arrived to rise like the sun. I am cheering for you, and a fabulous run!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Longtime fans of the show were receptive to Melvin\u2019s new role. \u201cReally happy to see the Craig Melvin celebration on the Today Show. I\u2019ve always liked him. He\u2019s gonna do great,\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/starshine_3\/status\/1878803889048453201\">one X user wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jalenwiththemic\/status\/1878794077090795714\">Another chimed in<\/a>, \u201cCraig Melvin on the today show full time is much needed for TV.\u201d Melvin was also surprised with an on-set visit from his wife and two children, which viewers found heartwarming.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DianneJack37845\/status\/1878861775225127043\">One user commented<\/a>: \u201c@TODAYshow @craigmelvin @hodakotb\u00a0 I thought I had cried all my tears on Friday but Today\u2019s show welcoming and honoring Craig Melvin made me cry even more. Congratulations, Craig. You deserve this!!\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content wp-block-post-content is-layout-flow wp-block-post-content-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Melvin was also surprised by members of his Wofford College community, who officially declared Jan. 13 as Craig Melvin Day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-block-group entry-footer is-layout-flow wp-block-group-is-layout-flow\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; Hoda Kotb\u2019s last day on the\u00a0Today\u00a0Show\u00a0was Friday, January 10. The longtime reporter may no longer be one of the main anchors of the morning show but she remains &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18580"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18582,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18580\/revisions\/18582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}