On Aug. 25, journalist Craig Melvin announced on-air that he will no longer be co-anchoring Saturday "Today" after three years in the role. The move, however, still leaves him with two jobs at NBC News as a national correspondent and fill-in anchor at "Today" during the week as well as a weekday anchor for MSNBC.
"For the better part of the past year, I have been pulling triple duty here at NBC News," Craig told the audience. "It's a lot for anyone, even someone who loves what he does as much as I do."
But according to a new report, audiences will actually soon be seeing a lot more of Craig, 39. "The reason Craig Melvin was taken off Saturdays is to elevate him on weekdays," a source told Page Six, adding that Craig, 39, "will eventually be [a weekday] anchor [on the 'Today' show]… You don't leave an anchor job to be a reporter."
"He already plays a big role [on 'Today'] Monday to Friday," the source added. "The network is really high on him right now: He's smart, charming, handsome and, perhaps most importantly, a family man."
Page Six also, however, quoted another source who claimed that Craig — who's married to former ESPN "SportsCenter" anchor Lindsay Czarniak, 40, with whom he has two young children — will maintain his role at "Today" during the week and won't be elevated to a co-anchor role alongside Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, who took over for Matt Lauer after the newsman was fired by NBC execs last November for "inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace."
"Craig has been working six days a week for about a year, between the 'Today' show Monday to Friday and on the weekends … So he stepped back from Saturday," the insider explained. "He's going to continue doing the weekday 'Today' show as well as his MSNBC show, and he's not being 'groomed' for anything else."
Page Six also reported that, according to sources, NBC News national correspondent Peter Alexander will soon be announced as Craig's replacement on Saturday "Today."