Hoda Kotb, whose megawatt smile and convivial presence have greeted groggy-eyed viewers of NBC’s “Today” show for the past 17 years, said on Thursday that she would step down from her hosting duties early next year.
Her surprise decision, Ms. Kotb said, came after a period of reflection prompted by her recent 60th birthday.
“I just thought the universe was speaking to me,” she said in an interview with The New York Times before she broke the news on-air to “Today” viewers. “This is a time in life for looking inside you, and figuring out what your yearnings are, your callings — where or what direction you’re headed during this new decade.”
A one-time local news reporter, Ms. Kotb (pronounced COT-bee) used an easy intimacy with viewers — not to mention a habit of sipping wine on-air — to transform herself into one of the most famous faces of an entire network, which she joined in 1998 as a “Dateline” correspondent.
Ms. Kotb will remain an occasional contributor to NBC, and she indicated that she might pursue projects in the wellness space (“It’s such a beautiful, fertile, wonderful place to be”). But, she told The Times, “it felt like the time to turn the page on what has been a dream book, a dream quarter-century.”
Her exit will create vacancies in two of the most coveted seats in television news. Ms. Kotb holds both an anchor chair for the flagship “Today” telecast, from 7 to 9 a.m., and a hosting position for its fourth hour at 10 a.m. The “Today” franchise remains a crucial driver of revenue for NBC.
It was the 10 a.m. hour where Ms. Kotb first hit it off with morning audiences. After being paired with her co-host, the formidable Kathie Lee Gifford, in 2008, Ms. Kotb gossiped and interviewed celebrities, but also spoke candidly about battling breast cancer and her resulting struggles with fertility. In 2017, Ms. Kotb, then in her 50s, adopted her first of two daughters, Haley.
Then, at a moment of crisis, NBC executives turned to Ms. Kotb for help.
In November 2017, the network abruptly fired the longtime “Today” star Matt Lauer after a subordinate accused him of sexual misconduct, sending shock waves through millions of American homes. Ms. Kotb was installed as an emergency substitute, and viewers responded positively to her rapport with the remaining “Today” anchor, Savannah Guthrie.
Weeks later, Ms. Kotb’s temporary role became permanent.
Ms. Guthrie, in an interview on Wednesday evening, called herself “super proud” and “super heartbroken” about Ms. Kotb’s pending departure. “It takes such guts to leave a place where you’re so comfortable, so beloved,” she said. “There’s nothing rash about this.”
Last year, Ms. Kotb shared that her younger daughter, Hope, whom she adopted in 2019, was hospitalized in intensive care for an unspecified health matter. She has since said that “things have stabilized.” In the interview, Ms. Kotb said Hope’s health “wasn’t a deciding factor” in her decision, but that she wanted to prioritize being involved in her children’s lives.
“I have a time pie in front of me,” she said, “and I think my kids deserve a bigger slice of that pie.”
Jenna Bush Hager, who became Ms. Kotb’s 10 a.m. co-host in 2019, cried in an interview as she talked about Ms. Kotb’s decision.
“We talk often about how brave it is to make the choice to be there for your family and to give up something that we all love so much,” Ms. Hager said. “I think she realized she wants to wake up to those faces.”
Replacing Ms. Kotb is a high-stakes matter for NBC executives, who did not immediately announce a successor. “Today” has a comfortable ratings lead over ABC and CBS among adults under the age of 54, the age bracket vital to advertisers. Over the last year, ABC’s “Good Morning America” continues to hold a lead in total viewers, but “Today” has won the key ratings demographic for 58 consecutive weeks, its biggest winning streak in more than three years.
In the interview, Ms. Kotb was asked if she ever imagined, when she started at “Today,” that she would remain a primary face of the show for nearly two decades.
“Oh, honey,” she replied. “There’s no way on God’s green earth I could have even dreamt something this spectacular.”
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