Hoda Kotb surprised viewers when she announced on September 26 that she would be stepping away from NBC’s Today at the end of 2024 to spend more time with her two young daughters.
However, according to a report from Puck News, Kotb’s decision to leave the long-running morning show wasn’t just for family reasons. The outlet reports that Kotb’s choice to step down as co-anchor was in part due to the network asking her to take a pay cut.
According to Puck, Kotb earns more than $20 million a year, a salary the network executives told her couldn’t be justified anymore due to the current landscape of broadcast television.
“NBC executives loved Hoda and knew her value to the brand, but also made clear to her agents that such stratospheric contracts were no longer justifiable given the industry’s inexorable decline, due in part to the steep ratings decline affecting Today and competitors like Good Morning America,” Puck reported.
Kotb revealed her decision to leave live on air on Thursday, saying, “I just turned 60, and it was such a monumental moment for me when I turned 60 years old, because I started thinking about that decade like, what does that decade mean? What does it hold? What’s it going to have for me? And I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new.”
She continued, “I had my kiddos late in life, and I was thinking that they deserve a bigger piece of the time pie that I have. I feel like we only have a finite amount of time.”
Kotb is the mother of two girls she adopted with her ex, Joel Schiffman. Haley was born on February 14, 2017, and Hope arrived in 2019, with Kotb present at her birth.
Nathan Congleton/NBC
With Kotb set to leave at the end of 2024, fans are wondering if her long-time co-host Savannah Guthrie could be next. According to The Daily Mail, sources reveal that NBC is keen to ensure that Guthrie stays with the show. Savannah reportedly earns $8 million a year from NBC, considerably less than Hoda.
“Savannah’s contract is coming up next year and they want to keep her and will be doing anything they can to continue their relationship with Savannah as a means of not overhauling everything,” the source explained.
The source added, “‘[Kotb’s] replacement will be from people who are already there rather than paying an outsider tons of money to sit with Savannah.”
“Craig Melvin and Laura Jarrett are both on top of the list to be the heir apparent at this time,’ the source continued. “NBC is looking to place one of them in Hoda’s position, whomever the audience gravitates to more will be the most likely replacement.”
Today, Weekdays, 7a/7c, NBC
