Peter Alexander is leaving Saturday Today after nearly two decades with NBC.
“This morning I am bursting with pride and with gratitude. I’ve had the most incredible experience over 22 years with NBC News,” Alexander, 49, said during the Saturday, March 28, broadcast. “I could not be more grateful for … the leaders and mentors here who have believed in me and given me more opportunities than I ever dreamed of.”
Alexander, who transitioned to cohosting Saturday Today in 2018, decided to leave his post to spend more time with his family.
“It is literally so fun, I mean, what a gig!” he quipped. “But, because I live in Washington [D.C.], it’s also a trek. I’ve been away from my home more than 80 nights in the last seven months, [and] more than 200 Friday nights away from my family in the last seven years.”
Alexander and his wife, Alison Starling, share daughters Ava, 12, and Emma, 10.
“So, in this limited window before my daughters lose interest in hanging out with me [and] it’s already happened quick, I’m eager to carve out a better balance between my personal and professional lives,” Alexander noted on Saturday. “[I want] to challenge myself with something new. I’m excited because I was taught, ‘Family first, the rest is details.’”
He continued, addressing the Today audience, “I just want to be clear: Thank you for your trust and your confidence.”
Alexander further thanked NBC News for “undoubtedly the most exciting years” of his TV journalism career.
Alexander’s cohost Laura Jarrett held back tears after hearing his announcement.
“Peter, we love you, we are going to miss you,” Jarrett, 42, responded to her colleague’s news. “We have laughed so hard we want to cry with you, we have learned from you and we are not the only ones.”
She added, “You are a brilliant journalist. You are a good and decent man, and you are an extraordinary father. You only get one shot to be Ava and Emma’s dad [and] 200 nights is a long time. They are lucky to have you as their father.”
Alexander joined NBC in 2004, marking his milestone 20th anniversary with the network in 2024.
“It’s hard to believe, but I have been part of the NBC family for longer than I’ve had my own family,” he tearfully concluded his Saturday announcement. “Studio 1A, being right here, with this team and with all the folks you don’t see on TV, this is literally my happy place.”
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