Savannah Guthrie shared the exciting news on Tuesday, January 2 that Hoda Kotb is officially her new co-anchor on NBC's "Today" show. Kotb has been filling in since Matt Lauer was fired from his position last November. Savannah is the one who reported the shocking news that morning with Hoda by her side.

The 46-year-old co-anchor is good at sharing the news that is both good and bad. This morning she said this is the most popular decision NBC News has ever made. Hoda responded by saying she is pinching herself. The new 53-year-old permanent co-anchor joked that the medics needed to go to Alexandria, Virginia to check on her mother who apparently was very thrilled to hear the good news.

Becoming new co-anchor

After Lauer was fired, there were speculations about who would replace him. Few thought it would be Hoda because she has a successful position alongside Kathie Lee Gifford during the fourth hour of the "Today" show. Now Hoda will be on the air from 7 to 9 a.m. with Savannah, and she will return at 10 a.m. to be with Kathie Lee. She has been doing that since November and will continue to do so.

Those who have watched both shows know that Hoda can move from a serious news anchor to a fun-loving co-host on "Kathie Lee and Hoda." If anyone could manage those two jobs, it would be none other than Hoda. Some people thought NBC was leaning toward hiring a man to work at the anchor desk with Savannah.

Hoda is no stranger to the NBC team because she started in 1998 as a correspondent for "Dateline." She has been co-hosting the fourth hour of "Today" with Gifford since 2008. During her time with NBC, she has won several honors, including an Emmy award, a Gracie award, and an Edward R.

Murrow award for her excellent service. Ratings have gone up for the show since Hoda has been substituting as a co-anchor.

Matt Lauer's tweet

Matt Lauer tweeted Hoda later in the day. Hoda told E! News that the former co-anchor offered congratulations and some nice words. She said it meant the world for her to hear from him. Critics said they wished she hadn't mentioned his name in association with her promotion.

"Today" co-hosts and many others were happy about Hoda's promotion to co-anchor. Al Roker, Kathie Lee Gifford, Carson Daly, Megyn Kelly and Jenna Bush Hager expressed their congratulations and support. Roker shut down a critic on Twitter who said a seasoned man would have been better and concluded that NBC doesn't have one. Roker responded, and his tweet immediately went viral when it was retweeted over 800 times and had over 8,000 likes. He tweeted that Barb @kgtchr might have preferred a steak instead of an anchor.
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