Willie Geist joins 'Today' as co-host

by Ann Oldenburg, USA TODAY
Willie Geist is moving up on the clock. A little.

Jim Bell, exec producer of Today, announced that Willie Geist has been named co-host of the 9 a.m. hour of NBC's morning show.

Geist will start on Nov. 12 in his new role, but will continue as a contributor to NBC News programs as well as NBC Sports Group, where he will report for the Olympics and NBC Sports Network.

Geist will also remain co-host of MSNBC's Morning Joe where he has covered national politics since 2007. He will have an expanded web presence with MSNBC.com's revamped Zeitgeist, a video blog he started and has run since 2007.

Geist has been the host of the MSNBC's Way Too Early with Willie Geist, a 5:30 a.m. program he created in 2009. He'll be turning that over to another host.

USA TODAY