Despite their unhappy reactions to the bourbon, Hoda Kotb, Savannah Guthrie and the rest of the NBC team showed a lot of excitement and encouragement toward Craig Melvin about his new job. Guthrie shared that the announcement among the staff led to people breaking into applause, and Kotb said this to Melvin:

By selecting Mr. Melvin, a familiar face on the show, network executives chose to go the steadiest route possible.

Kotb's last day will be Jan. 10. She announced in September she was leaving the program after 17 years to spend more time with her children.