Peter Alexander is leaving NBC News after 22 years at the network, which includes his longtime role as co-host of Saturday TODAY.<\/p>\n
Alexander, 49, announced his departure on the air March 28, sharing that he wants to spend more time with his two daughters and \u201cchallenge himself with something new.\u201d Alexander, his wife Alison Starling and their daughters<\/a>, Ava, 12, and Emma, 10, are based in Washington, D.C., while Saturday TODAY broadcasts from 30 Rock\u2019s Studio 1A in New York City.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been away from home more than 80 nights in the last seven months. More than 200 Friday nights away from my family in the last seven years,\u201d Alexander said. \u201cSo, in this limited window before my daughters lose interest in hanging out with me…I\u2019m eager to carve out a better balance between my personal and professional lives.\u201d <\/p>\n Alexander joined Saturday TODAY<\/a> in October 2018, and in 2021, he was named NBC\u2019s co-chief White House correspondent alongside Kristen Welker. Alexander and Welker then together hosted Saturday TODAY for three years, from 2020 to 2023, until Welker succeeded Chuck Todd as moderator of NBC\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press.<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n Since then, he\u2019s sat at the anchor desk with Laura Jarrett<\/a>, who joined NBC in January 2023 as a senior legal correspondent.<\/p>\n Jarrett said of Alexander\u2019s departure, \u201cPeter: We love you, we are going to miss you.\u201d She continued: \u201cYou 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\u2019s dad…they are lucky to have you as their father.\u201d<\/p>\n Alexander joined NBC News in 2004, and has said that booking an interview with then-Cuban President Fidel Castro was his big break. He went on to report more international news<\/a>, including Iraq\u2019s 2005 election and the death of Osama bin Laden. His work has taken him to Baghdad, Banda Aceh, Beijing and more.<\/p>\n