Hoda Kotb, an NBC News mainstay who took over as co-anchor of NBC’s “Today” after longtime anchor Matt Lauer was fired in 2017, will leave the show early next year, leaving not one but two key positions open on the network’s flagship morning show.

Speaking on the show Thursday morning, Kotb spoke of a desire to spend time with her two young daughters. “I realized it was time for me to move on to a new chapter,” she told colleagues on the show after her 60th birthday. She noted that she had children later in life and that “they deserve a bigger piece of my time pie than I have.” She is expected to continue contributing to the program after she retires in early 2025.

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It will be tough to fill her shoes. In addition to hosting the first two hours of “Today” with Savannah Guthrie, Kotb is also a regular on the lighter 10 a.m. hour, which she co-hosted with Jenna Bush Hager and Kathie Lee Gifford. She has demonstrated a versatility — being able to tackle difficult news and personality traits while showing emotion and heart onscreen — that not every television personality possesses.

Their departure could be well timed. Network morning anchors are among the highest paid in the news business. As viewers abandon traditional TV in favor of digital platforms – be it streaming content, AM newsletters or early morning shows aimed at niche audiences – those top salaries are likely to face new scrutiny.

Kotb announces her exit even though “Today” is doing well in the modern ratings race. Certainly, morning ratings have been declining for years. According to data from the Pew Research Center, the average viewership of NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CBS’s “CBS Mornings” has declined since 2020. Between 2020 and 2022, morning news ratings fell 11% for NBC, 9% for ABC and 8% for CBS.

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