‘Today’ Host Quits His Other Show

Craig Melvin is making some major career moves. The Today co-anchor is set to exit Craig Melvin Reports at the end of the month, a network spokesperson confirmed on Monday, per Deadline and Variety. According to the spokesperson, in Melvin’s absence, a rotating lineup of guest anchors will host the MSNBC hour for the foreseeable future. A guest anchor roster has not been revealed at this time. The show will continue to bring on guest anchors until a permanent host is announced at a later time.

Melvin is departing the show in order to focus more on his duties at NBC News and NBC’s Today. Melvin has been an anchor on MSNBC and Today since 2016. Melvin does four hours of live TV each weekday, serving as both a Today news anchor and co-host of Third Hour of Today. He is a staple for the morning program alongside Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb. Variety reported that Melvin’s contract with NBCUniversal is believed to lapse at the end of 2022.

Melvin’s departure from MSNBC is just the latest shakeup at MSNBC. It comes just months after Brian Williams signed off from The 11th Hour for the final time back in December after 28 years with MSNBC and NBC News. Williams announced in November that he would be leaving the network and The 11th Hour, sharing in a statement, “I have been truly blessed. I have been allowed to spend almost half of my life with one company. NBC is a part of me and always will be.” Amid his exit, The 11th Hour was anchored by a rotating list of guest hosts until MSNC in late January tapped Stephanie Ruhle to take over. As part of that shift, Ruhle left the 9 a.m. ET hour to take over nighttime duties.

Just weeks after Williams’ exit, it was announced that Rachel Maddow would be taking a hiatus from her nightly show on MSNBC. Maddow decided to temporarily step back from The Rachel Maddow Show in order to focus on several different projects, including a new podcast with NBCUniversal as well as a movie based on her book, Bag Man. The film, which will be directed by Ben Stiller, follows the scandal surrounding U.S. Vice President Spiro Agnew. 

Melvin has not publicly commented on his departure from his MSNBC show. The anchor has been with NBC News and MSNBC since 2011. Prior to that, he was a weekend anchor for WRC-TV in Washington, D.C.