Craig Delano Melvin (born May 20, 1979) is an American

broadcast journalist Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

and anchor at

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

and

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

. From August 2018 until January 2025, he was a news anchor on NBC's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'', in October 2018, a co-host of ''Today Third Hour'' before being made permanent host in January 2019, and in January 2025, he became a co-anchor for the first and second hours of ''Today''. Melvin also serves as a fill-in & substitute anchor for the ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

''.

Early life

Craig Delano Melvin was born on May 20, 1979, in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-mo ...

, to Lawrence and Betty Melvin. He has a younger brother, Ryan Melvin, and an older half-brother, Rev. Lawrence Meadows, who died from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

on December 9, 2020 at the age of 43. In 1996, he was elected as the first African-American president of Key Club International. In 2001, he received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in government from

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1854, it is one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the American Civil War that still ope ...

. He is a member of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig or KSig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international Fraternities and sororities in North America, fr ...

fraternity A fraternity (; whence, "wikt:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal order traditionally of men but also women associated together for various religious or secular ...

and also served as a senior counselor for South Carolina's Palmetto Boys State program.

Career

Melvin first joined

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

-affiliate WIS-TV in

as a high school student, working as an "Our Generation Reporter" from 1995 to 1997. After college, he returned to WIS in July 2001 as a news photographer and producer, before becoming a reporter for the station's morning news team, producing his "Craig Cam" live segments. He was later promoted to news anchor for the weekend morning newscast and the weekend evening newscasts before heading the weekday newscasts. At WIS-TV, Melvin also created several series that covered issues affecting education and the homeless in Columbia, among others. In July 2008, Melvin left WIS-TV to join NBC's

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an network af ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's NBC outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A television service, Class A Telemundo outlet W ...

, where he anchored the weekend evening newscasts. Three years later, in July 2011, Melvin departed WRC-TV for MSNBC to become a daytime anchor, while also contributing to NBC News as a reporter. In 2012, Melvin anchored MSNBC's coverage of the national conventions for the Republican and Democratic parties, as well as TV One's Election Night coverage, in partnership with NBC News. He also covered the Sandy Hook shootings in December 2012. In 2013, he covered the Moore tornado in May, as well as the crash of

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled Transpacific flight, transpacific passenger flight originating from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea, to San Francisco International Airport near San Francisco, California, United ...

and the

George Zimmerman George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' F ...

trial in July. In 2014, Melvin covered the

shooting of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson. Wilson, a white male Fergu ...

in August and the murder of Hannah Graham in September. In 2015, he covered the

Charleston church shooting An Anti-Black racism, anti-black mass shooting and hate crime occurred on June 17, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina. Nine people were killed, and one was injured, during a Bible study (Christianity), Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist ...

as well as the death of Freddie Gray in June. In 2016, Melvin covered the mass shooting of Dallas police officers in July and was also among the NBC reporters covering the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

in August. That same year, he also succeeded José Díaz-Balart as an anchor of ''MSNBC Live'', which would become '' MSNBC Reports''. In 2017, Melvin hosted his own true crime series ''Dateline: Secrets Uncovered''. It premiered on

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

in July 21. In 2018, Melvin reported from

Pyeongchang County Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, county in the province of Gangwon Province, South Korea, Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddh ...

for NBC's coverage of the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

in February. He was also promoted to weekday news anchor on ''Today'' in September and formed the cast of hosts heading ''Today Third Hour'' in October. In December 2020, Melvin co-hosted NBC's annual broadcast of the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. In March 2022, Melvin announced he would be leaving his hour of ''MSNBC Reports'' to focus on ''Today''. On January 13, 2025, Melvin stepped into the co-anchor chair alongside Savannah Guthrie and replaced

Hoda Kotb Hoda Kotb ( ; born August 9, 1964) is an American broadcast journalist, television personality, and author. She was the main co-anchor of the NBC News breakfast television, morning show ''Today (American TV program), Today'' from 2018 to 2025, ...

, who left the program the week before.

Personal life

Melvin married then-ESPN sports anchor and former WRC-TV sports reporter Lindsay Czarniak on October 15, 2011. They reside in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and have a son, Delano (“Del”), who was born in March 2014, and a daughter, Sybil (“Sibby”), who was born in November 2016. Melvin is a Christian and attends a congregational church.

Career timeline

* 2001–2008: WIS-TV anchor and reporter, Columbia, S.C. * 2008–2011:

6 PM and 11 PM weekend news anchor,

* 2011–present:

** 2011–2014: '' MSNBC Live'' weekend anchor ** 2012–present: NBC News correspondent ** 2015–2018: ''

Weekend Today Weekend editions of '' Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC, began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987. After NBC expanded ''Today'' to seven days a week in the 1990s ...

'' co-anchor ** 2016–2022: ''MSNBC Live'' anchor ** 2016–present: '' Dateline Extra'' Anchor ** 2017: '' Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly'' correspondent ** 2018–2025: ''

'' news anchor ** 2018–present: ''Today Third Hour'' host ** 2025–present: ''

'' co-anchor with Savannah Guthrie

Awards

In 1996, Melvin received an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

award for his story on innovative teaching, making him one of the youngest recipients to ever receive such an award. In 2003 and 2005, Melvin shared in the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

s won by WIS-TV for having the best newscast. In 2006, Melvin received an

for his work as news anchor. In 2007, he was named "Best Anchor" by the South Carolina Broadcaster's Association. In 2023, he was named “man of the year” by the kappa sigma fraternity.

References

External links

Craig Melvin's MSNBC BioCraig Melvin's ''Today'' bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melvin, Craig 1979 births Living people African-American television personalities People from Columbia, South Carolina Wofford College alumni Journalists from South Carolina African-American journalists American television reporters and correspondents MSNBC people Television anchors from South Carolina Television personalities from South Carolina