Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin dish on the 'pressure' ahead of the 'TODAY' show's next chapter

A new chapter begins for the "TODAY" show on Monday.

Following an emotional Friday farewell to Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin will step in as Savannah Guthrie's co-host on NBC News’ iconic morning program.

The transition comes at a pivotal moment. With Donald Trump set to return to the White House, the news cycle is poised to heat up dramatically. At the same time, “TODAY” has recently reclaimed a long-elusive milestone: surpassing ABC’s “Good Morning America” in total viewership for the first time in over a decade.

For NBC News executives, the challenge will be to sustain that forward momentum as the show enters this new era. Ahead of Melvin’s debut, I spoke with both Guthrie and Melvin about what lies ahead. Below is our Q&A, lightly edited for clarity and style.

OLIVER: How are you both feeling as the “TODAY” show enters this new chapter?

SAVANNAH: We are feeling excited and grateful. We had a beautiful run with Hoda, and we have the perfect person to fill those high heels right here waiting in the wings with Craig. We are so blessed, and we feel it.

CRAIG: Equal parts excited and nervous. No one wants to be the guy steering the ship who runs it into the ground!

OLIVER: The show on Friday was emotional, as you all said goodbye to Hoda. How were you feeling after the camera stopped rolling?

SAVANNAH: Dehydrated.

CRAIG: Emotionally exhausted.

SAVANNAH: We cried all the tears there were to cry, but they were happy tears — happy for Hoda's next chapter and thrilled for ours.

OLIVER: Craig, you no doubt must feel some pressure as you prepare to take over for Hoda. How have you been preparing? Did she leave you with any helpful tips?

CRAIG: I do feel some pressure. There's truly no filling those high heels. Hoda called yesterday, and we had a nice conversation. She gave me some great advice — be yourself. Take it all in.

OLIVER: Savannah, what advice have you given Craig as he steps into this new role? And how are you preparing to build on the new on air partnership?

SAVANNAH: Well, Craig has done this job and been right there for the last seven years. So I actually don't think he needs any advice. He knows exactly who he is. He knows exactly what the job is. He's perfectly suited for this job at this moment and this time. Craig is a true original, and that's what makes someone successful on this show. The viewers love him. We are in flight, and we’ve just going to keep going with this cruising altitude.

OLIVER: You don't need me to tell you both that linear television is in decline. It's all the talk these days in the industry. But, I'm curious: As you start this new chapter of the show, is there anything different you might be doing to adapt to the shifting landscape?

SAVANNAH: We don't think of ourselves as exclusively linear television anymore. We know what we have built — together with our producers and executives at “TODAY” — is a 365-day, 24/7-operation that includes digital, social, lifestyle, podcasts, radio and so much more. We are meeting viewers where they are, and where they are in 2025 is different from where they were in 1952, when the “TODAY” show started. We don't get discouraged by those headlines because we've adapted as an organization and continue to do so.

CRAIG I wholeheartedly agree with SG. We are continuing to meet the moment. “TODAY” is a full 360-degree operation.

OLIVER: The show is changing the guard one week before Donald Trump's inauguration. How do you plan on covering his presidency over the next four years? And do you think the manner in which you cover him will be any different than his first presidency?

CRAIG: One of our first orders of business will be covering the inauguration from Washington. We've done this before. This isn't our first time covering the Trump administration.

SAVANNAH: We will cover the news like we always do.

OLIVER: All right, before I let you both go, is there anything from Monday's show that you can tease? I assume you all have one or two surprises planned?

SAVANNAH: Of course, we're going to celebrate this moment, as we always do with some time-honored “TODAY” traditions and surprises for Craig. You'll have to tune in to see those. And we never forget that our job is to cover the news. We have a huge story right now in Los Angeles with the fires. We’ll be covering that aggressively. Of course, we’ll have some fun, and we’ll keep our eye on the ball and do what we're here to do. We also have a special interviewer that will sit down with Craig and me — it will be announced on “Sunday Night Football” tonight!