Savannah Guthrie‘s tenure at “Today” still has a lot of tomorrow in it.
Guthrie has extended her current deal with NBC News, according to a person familiar with the matter, a move that will keep her at the desk of the network’s flagship “Today” program at a time when the show has surged ahead of its main competitors in the ratings. The move will also serve to tamp down speculation about the journalist’s interest in remaining in her role after having suffered an immense family tragedy — the unsolved abduction of her mother, Nancy — in public.
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NBC News declined to make executives available for comment. The Breaker newsletter previously reported on Guthrie’s contract extension.
The anchor’s deal was believed to expire later this year or in early 2027, and NBC News’ decision to continue its relationship with her runs counter to current TV-news trends. Indeed, top anchors such as Hoda Kotb, Neal Cavuto, Chris Wallace and others have exited places such as NBC News, Fox News and CNN as media companies scrutinize their expenses in the streaming era and while their corporate owners mull new arrangements that may leave them smaller or smushed into a larger conglomerate. Comcast, NBC’s owner, intends to spin off the company in a few months’ time, leaving it significantly smaller than it was when combined with Comcast’s large cable operation as well as with the media assets of the company now known as Versant.
Guthrie, however, enjoys tremendous standing at NBCUniversal. She is widely seen as a guiding force at “Today,” a signature program she co-anchors with Craig Melvin. While the morning-news audience is not what it once was decades ago, viewership is still seen as devoted and significant. The first two hours of “Today” — watched by around 3 million viewers each weekday — generated nearly $203.5 million in advertising in 2025, according to Guideline, a tracker of ad spending. Add the 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. hours to the mix, and NBC nabbed around $315.4 million from the weekday editions of the program.
She also plays a key role in other parts of coverage, including the network’s recent Election Night that was the most-watched among the traditional TV-news outlets. What’s more, Guthrie is the host of a new show based on the popular “Wordle” game from The New York Times slated to debut in coming months on NBC. “She’s fantastic,” says Jimmy Fallon, whose Electric Hot Dog production company is one of the backers of the program, during a recent interview with Variety.
As of November 8, “Today” commanded 39% of the audience that has tuned in season to date for one of the three broadcast-network morning programs, according to data from Nielsen. It is well ahead of both ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CBS’ “CBS Mornings” in both overall viewership as well as among audiences between the ages of 25 and 54 — the demographic most coveted by advertisers in news programs.
Guthrie can do hard-hitting newsmaker interviews and explain complicated legal matters, but also pal around with sports figures and movie stars. Internally, she is known for helping the “Today” personnel set the tone around each day’s news cycle. And she has helped NBC and “Today” during some of their greatest and most public trials.
Guthrie’s presence as co-anchor helped the show move forward after the awkward exit of Ann Curry in 2012, which spurred a viewer backlash. When Matt Lauer was exiled in 2017 following revelations of “inappropriate sexual behavior,” Guthrie forged ahead, this time with Kotb in the seat beside her (Lauer has denied all allegations). Guthrie also helped NBC through a whirlwind in 2020 when the news division decided to hold a town hall with President Trump during his first term opposite an event ABC News arranged with then-candidate Joe Biden and George Stephanopoulos. Guthrie lifted the event out of publicity-stunt status by keeping the president to short answers — no small feat — and adding fact-checks and follow-ups. “‘You’re the president, you’re not like somebody’s crazy uncle who can retweet whatever,’” Guthrie told President Trump after asking why he recently retweeted a conspiracy theory.
If Trump didn’t like the interview, he didn’t show it. He was among those offering to help the Guthrie family during their moment of crisis, bringing government help to bear in the search for Nancy Guthrie.
The big TV-news outlets seem to be rethinking their stance on top anchors. To be sure, they have grown more interested in so-called “creators” — independent journalists, digital entrepreneurs and voice-y experts on specific topics — as younger consumers gravitate to video podcasts and e-mailed newsletters. But there is also more value in having a well-known and trusted persona available to give viewers the information they need. CBS News continues to work with Gayle King at its morning show, a recognition that her profile is hard-earned and not easily duplicated. The same is true of Norah O’Donnell, the former “CBS Evening News” anchor who has taken up new roles with both “CBS Mornings” and “60 Minutes.”
It’s almost as if the networks have recognized that a strong relationship with viewers, once earned, is not to be spent lightly.
Fox Style News Syndicate. Sourced from broadcast reporting: Read Full Source Coverage.