Anchors at NBC‘s “Today” took a few minutes Friday to reflect on colleague Savannah Guthrie’s visit to the set the day before — her first appearance at the show’s studio at New York’s Rockefeller Center since her mother, Nancy Guthrie, went missing in late January.
“I think we needed to see her, ” said Al Roker, speaking to an assembled group that included Carson Daly, Laura Jarrett, Craig Melvin, and Dylan Dreyer
The co-host visited with colleagues in her first appearance at NBC since her mother, Nancy, was abducted January 31. The case remains open and authorities have not publicly identified a person of interest.
“Savannah Guthrie stopped by the studio this morning to be with and thank her ‘Today’ colleagues,” NBC News said in a statement. “While she plans to return to the show on air, she remains focused right now supporting her family and working to help bring Nancy home.”
The anchors said Guthrie retained many of her best qualities. “She’s still Savannah. She’s still funny. She’s still cracking jokes,” said Jarrett.
Anchors at the long-running A.M. franchise have grappled with many challenges over the years, ranging from personal health issues to talent transitions, but these past months have presented a set of circumstances that are believed to be without parallel: An agonizing search for Nancy Guthrie around her home in Arizona has been in process for weeks, leaving producers not only to manage coverage thoughtfully, but also to ponder how to fill Savannah Guthrie’s seat for an undefined interim.
How has “Today” handled the matter? Hoda Kotb, the veteran “Today” co-anchor who left full-time duties early last year, has rejoined the show on an interim basis, and is holding forth with Craig Melvin. Kotb will stay while Guthrie is with her family, according to a person familiar with the matter. Guthrie is expected to return to the show on her own timeline, even if she requires a significant period to feel ready to do so, this person says. On some days, Sheinelle Jones has co-anchored alongside Melvin.
The group also discussed how Dreyer let the group of about 100 members of the “Today” staff, anchors and crew through a prayer. “We all feel so helpless during this situation. When I feel helpless, I pray,” said Dreyer. “We asked for a miracle. If you don’t ask, you don’t receive. But I think we needed peace and comfort.”
Daly indicated that Guthrie did not offer prepared remarks but just spoke with emotion. “She came into the middle, no speech, and spoke from the heart, said the most perfect words you could ever imagine and looked every one of this family in the eyes.” He added: “Her grace is second to none under pressure.”
Audiences continue to watch the show in larger numbers — even after NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics has wound down. For the five days ended February 27, “Today” captured an average of 3.32 million viewers overall and 638,000 among viewers between 25 and 54, the audience coveted most by advertisers in news programming. The overall audience for “Today” was up 19% over the year-earlier period, while viewership in the demo fell 6% — a potential warning sign, as the same group rose 13% at rival ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Melvin summed up the group’s feelings at the end of the segment: “It was good to lay eyes on our friend, he said.
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