After Hoda Kotb’s exit, NBC eager to keep Savannah Guthrie ‘for life’

“Today” show star Savannah Guthrie has more than a year left on her current $7 million-a-year deal — and will be staying put in NBC’s Studio 1A for the foreseeable future, industry sources tell Page Six.

Rumors have been rife that Guthrie’s co-anchor Hoda Kotb beat Guthrie, 52, to the punch by announcing her own surprise departure last week.

“There was chatter that Savannah was planning her own exit strategy for next year after the election, but Hoda has made that all but impossible,” one TV source told Page Six.

Guthrie (center) — seen with Kotb (left) and Bush Hager (right) — had a bestseller with her book, “Mostly What God Does.” Getty Images TV sources thought that, after publishing her book, Guthrie — here, with husband Mike Feldman and kids Charley and Vale, would be planning her exit from “Today.” Getty Images

NBC staff suspected Guthrie — who will help helm the network’s election-night coverage next month — was paving the way for a future outside “Today” with the publication of her critically acclaimed New York Times best seller, “Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding,” back in February, we’re told.

“Savannah has talked a lot about not wanting to overstay her welcome on ‘Today.’ I honestly took the book as a signal of what her post-‘Today’ life was going to be,” said one highly-placed NBC staffer.

“My hunch is that Hoda completely scooped her.”

A TV insider added: “Of course, nobody at NBC wants Savannah to leave. I think if the bosses had their way she would be here for life. She is the beating heart of ‘Today’ — there is so much support for her.

Guthrie won an Emmy for her interview with President Donald Trump in 2020. AFP via Getty Images She’s set to be a part of NBC’s election-night coverage on November 5. AP

“There are so few people who can go from dressing as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader for Halloween to interviewing the president to covering a major breaking news story.”

We’re told that Kotb, 60, gave a speech to ‘Today’ staff after she emotionally broke the news of her departure on air, and that Guthrie followed her up to “rally the troops.”

“We had a staff meeting right after the announcement. Hoda spoke, and the bosses, and then Savannah spoke, and it was beautiful,” a “Today” source said. “[Guthrie] gave the ‘Today’ team the care they really needed in that moment.”

Laura Jarrett (right, with Guthrie and “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker) is said to be one frontrunner for Kotb’s seat. Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

“Today” beat ABC rival “Good Morning America” in total viewers for the past two months and has won in the key news demo, adults 25-54, for the past eight years.

Puck News reported Friday that Kotb was making more than $20 million a year and decided to leave after NBC bosses proposed a pay cut. The outlet also reported that Guthrie earns more than $20 million a year.

However, a senior NBC source estimated that Guthrie and Kotb are currently making around $7-8 million annually. Before leaving in 2017, disgraced “Today” anchor Matt Lauer was on an estimated $25 million-a-year deal.

Some industry industry insiders fear that “Today’s” viewers may be put off by the fact that Jarrett”s mom is President Obama’s former senior advisor, Valerie Jarrett. WireImage

“Matt Lauer made that kind of money, but when he left, so did that kind of salary,” said the senior NBC source.

As for whom will take over from Kotb when she leaves the show next year, industry sources say the frontrunners appear to be “Today” new anchor Craig Melvin, “Today” news anchor and NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett, who already co-hosts the Saturday “Today” show.

Jarrett is the daughter of Valerie Jarrett, who served as President Barack Obama senior advisor.

Guthrie and Kotb hosted “Today” live from Paris during the Summer Olympics. They were joined by Al Roker (right) and Craig Melvin (left), a rumored favorite to replace Kotb. Getty Images Sheinelle Jones and Craig Melvin have both stepped into the co-anchor seats on “Today” as fill-ins. Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images

“The ‘Today’ audience is right of center politically, so there would be the question of whether viewers would welcome Valerie Jarrett’s daughter in Hoda’s seat,” the TV insider said.

But multiple sources at NBC said there is no clear frontrunner yet.

“Various people know they need to step up,” said one NBC source. “When a world crisis is unfolding you have to be able to look up and trust the people you’re seeing on air.”