Vieira To Leave TODAY Show In June; Curry Named Co-Anchor

A change at the Anchor position was announce today on the Today Show as Meredith Vieira will leave the show and Ann Curry was named as the replacement.

After nearly five years as co-anchor of TODAY, Meredith Vieira has decided to leave the show in June. Ann Curry will take her place as co-anchor of America’s No. 1 morning show alongside Matt Lauer. Meredith will continue in a new role at NBC News, with an official announcement in the coming months.

TODAY’s current third hour co-host, Natalie Morales, has been named news anchor, and NBC News White House correspondent and msnbc anchor Savannah Guthrie will be co-host of the third hour of TODAY. The new anchor team will debut in June.

“This is a difficult day for me,” Meredith said in an emotional announcement on TODAY Monday. “I’m going to try to hold myself together here. But after months of personal reflection and private conversations between my family and my friends, I've decided to leave TODAY in June.

“I’ve really had a great time, but time is one of those weird things; you can never get enough of it,” she said. “And it just keeps ticking away, and I know that I want to spend more of mine with my husband, Richard, and my kids, Ben, Gabe and Lily.”

Matt Lauer spoke for the TODAY team when he said they felt “blessed” to have worked with Meredith. “Meredith is universally adored here at TODAY,” he said. “And not just by those of us on the couch, but all the people behind the scenes. She has brought class and dignity and talent. And a joy of life to this show over these last five years. And we will miss you like crazy.”

“You’ve been a gift to this broadcast,” Ann Curry chimed in. “You have been generous and you have been a great girlfriend.”

TODAY’s anchors aren’t the only ones who will miss Meredith when she leaves the show. “Meredith is a remarkable woman and broadcaster who in five short years has left an indelible imprint on morning television,” NBC News president Steve Capus said in a statement. “While we will miss waking up with her each morning, we are working together on developing her next chapter at NBC News.”

via Vieira to leave TODAY in June; Curry named co-anchor - TODAY People - TODAY.com.

What do you think of the switch???