Hoda Kotb leaving NBC's 'TODAY'

Hoda Kotb, one of NBC's most notable broadcasters who has been a staple of the TODAY show for nearly two decades, will depart the program at the end of the year.

The broadcaster announced the news on Thursday, expressing a desire to spend more time with her family and indicated she intends to stay "a part of the NBC family" after she leaves in 2025.

"I realize it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and try something new," she said. "This is the right time for me to move on ... I thought about my kiddos and they deserve a bigger piece of my time buy that I have ... this is the hardest thing in the world."

Kotb stepping down opens up a major anchoring vacancy at NBC that will be widely coveted internally at the network.

She has served as a co-host of TODAY since 2017, when anchor Matt Lauer was ousted over allegations of sexual misconduct, and has hosted the program since then with Savannah Guthrie, Jenna Bush Hager and most recently Craig Melvin.

Kotb first joined NBC in the late 1990s and is a breast cancer survivor and has been a part of several initiatives to raise awareness about the disease.