NBC appointed Savannah Guthrie as Matt Lauer's co-anchor on the "Today" show Friday, a day after Ann Curry made a tearful exit from the job.

Guthrie did the job on Friday, doing segments ranging from analysis of the Supreme Court health care decision to decorating toast red, white and blue for Fourth of July party decorations, although nothing was said on the air about her getting the job permanently. The new team will debut July 9.

The turnover comes as NBC's profitable morning show faces its most serious ratings challenge from ABC's "Good Morning America" since the mid-1990s.

Guthrie, 40, is NBC's chief legal analyst, a role that she will continue, and had been co-host of the "Today" show's third hour for the past year (the show currently stretches to four hours). She's been at NBC since 2007. She covered Sarah Palin's campaign and was NBC's White House correspondent from 2008 to 2011.