NBC News’ Craig Melvin has been named co-anchor to Savannah Guthrie for the TODAY show for the 7 and 8 a.m. hours.

He will begin Monday, Jan. 13.

Hoda Kotb, who announced in September she was leaving the show, will sign off on Friday, Jan. 10.

Craig, who is currently the co-host for the third hour of TODAY. He has been the weekend co-anchor, as well as the news anchor during the earlier hours.

“We are beyond thrilled to have Craig step into the co-anchor chair,” Libby Leist, senior vice president of TODAY, said in a statement to staff Nov. 14, per TODAY. “He’s been an integral and beloved part of our family. 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.”

Craig will continue to co-host the third hour with Al Roker, Dylan Dreyer and Sheinelle Jones.

Kotb called the decision to leave the show “the hardest thing in the world.”

“I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60, and to try something new,” she said. “I remembered standing outside looking at these beautiful bunch of people with these gorgeous signs, and I thought, ‘This is what the top of the wave feels like for me.’ And I thought it can’t get better, and I decided that this is the right time for me to kind of move on.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.