Hosting “Today” is host Savannah Guthrie’s missing mother Further down the line, NBC says veteran Olympic broadcaster Mary Carillo will replace Guthrie as co-host on Friday’s broadcast of the Winter Games opening ceremony.
The mystery of The Disappearance of Nancy Guthrie — investigators believe she was taken from her Arizona home against her will — has cast a shadow over what was expected to be a huge week for the television network.
The Olympics are one of the few events that still attract consistent, large audiences to television broadcasts. Other notable draws include the Super Bowlwhich NBC will televise this weekend.
Savannah Guthrie was set to host the opening ceremony with Terry Gannon, but NBC said she was no longer traveling to Italy due to her mother’s disappearance.
Carillo is a familiar face to people watching the Olympics – this will be her 17th Olympics – and she will co-host with Gannon.
Carillo lived in Milan for two years as a child, NBC said. She organized closing ceremonies at three Olympic Games: Salt Lake City in 2002, Beijing in 2008 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Guthrie’s Today show co-host Craig Melvin also will not be going to Italy, NBC said. He was due to host the late Olympics broadcasts early next week and will be replaced in that role by Ahmed Fareed.
NBC News has aggressively covered the story of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance, but it wasn’t alone. It was also the top story on ABC’s “World News Tonight” on Tuesday.
