Kotb's first on-air job after college was at then-
CBS affiliate
WXVT in
Greenville, Mississippi. Kotb then moved to
ABC affiliate
WQAD in
Moline, Illinois as a reporter from 1988 to 1989. She became a weekend anchor and reporter at CBS affiliate
WINK in
Fort Myers, Florida from 1989 to 1991. From 1992 to 1998, Kotb was an anchor and reporter for CBS affiliate
WWL in
New Orleans, Louisiana.
NBC News Kotb officially joined
NBC News in April 1998 as a correspondent for
Dateline NBC and all NBC News platforms. Gifford was later succeeded by
Jenna Bush Hager in April 2019, following Gifford's departure from the show. On February 23, 2015, Kotb began hosting a live, one-hour show twice a week on
Sirius XM's
Today channel, discussing casual
water cooler topics. On January 2, 2018, Kotb was named co-anchor of
Today with
Savannah Guthrie after anchor
Matt Lauer was terminated by NBC News following accusations of sexual misconduct. She and Guthrie had been interim co-anchors since Lauer's termination on November 29, 2017. They make up the first female anchor duo to lead the show. On September 26, 2024, Kotb announced that she would be stepping down from
Today in early 2025; she indicated she would continue with NBC in an unspecified role. Her last day was January 10, 2025. Kotb temporarily returned to
Today between February and March 2026 to fill in for Guthrie during her absence in the investigation of the
disappearance of her mother.
Books In October 2010, Kotb released a
New York Times bestselling autobiography,
Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee. On January 15, 2013, she released her second book,
Ten Years Later: Six People Who Faced Adversity and Transformed Their Lives, in which she chronicles six stories by identifying a life-changing event in each subject's life and then revisiting each of those six people a decade later. In 2016, Kotb released her third book,
Where They Belong: The Best Decisions People Almost Never Made, which features a selection of various stories of inspiring people who "found themselves" in completely unexpected moments or unforeseen circumstances. In October 2019, Kotb released her sixth book,
I Really Needed This Today, which includes personal notes about her experiences and relationships, an assortment of quotes, and 365 sayings that she hopes inspires and uplifts readers. She released a follow-up in October 2020 titled
This Just Speaks to Me, which expands on her daily reflections and includes additional personal anecdotes and quotes. Kotb has also released her own children's books. The first one, her fourth book overall, ''I've Loved You Since Forever'', was released in 2018, and was adapted into a lullaby by
Kelly Clarkson. Her second children's book, her fifth book overall,
You Are My Happy, which celebrates the things in life that bring gratitude, was released in March 2019.
Awards In 2002, Kotb was awarded the
Edward R. Murrow Award for her reporting. In 2006, Kotb was awarded a
Peabody Award for
Dateline NBC "The Education of Ms. Groves", which earned her an additional Headliner Award in 2007, as well as the
Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award in 2008. In 2010, 2011, and 2012, during which Kotb was a part of the
Today morning host lineup,
Today won a
Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Morning Program. which she created in collaboration with
Sara Bareilles and
Cyndi Lauper to raise awareness for
pediatric cancer. That same year, she received an additional Gracie Award for Outstanding Host in News/Non-fiction in 2015. In 2019, Kotb and Gifford were awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Informative Talk Show Host during their time as co-hosts. Kotb was awarded the
Matrix Award in October 2021. ==Personal life==