NBC Studios (New York City)

Television studio complex in Manhattan, New York City

NBC Studios are located in the historic 30 Rockefeller Plaza (on Sixth Avenue between 49th and 50th streets) in Manhattan, New York City. The building houses the NBC television network headquarters, its parent NBCUniversal, and NBC's flagship station WNBC (Channel 4), as well as cable news channel MSNBC.

The first NBC Radio City Studios began operating in the early 1930s. Tours of the studios began in 1933, suspended in 2014 and resumed on October 26, 2015. Because of the preponderance of radio studios, that section of the Rockefeller Center complex became known as Radio City (and gave its name to Radio City Music Hall).

Current studio spaces

Today Studio 1A set in 2019

Shows produced at NBC Studios New York

30 Rockefeller Plaza is the world headquarters of NBC.

Ground-level entrance

Marquee from the side

Among the shows originating at 30 Rockefeller Plaza (shows taping as of the 2023–2024 season in bold):

Other locations

Some other New York originated programs are/were produced elsewhere in the area, including:

• Ambassador Theatre, 215 West 49th Street. The theater returned to Broadway use in 1956.^[29]
• Brooklyn Studios,^[30][31] 1268 East 14th Street in Midwood, Brooklyn. Included two studios, used as the filming location of many 1950s color "Spectaculars" such as The Esther Williams Aqua Special, Peter Pan; it is also where The Perry Como Show (1955), Mitch Miller Show (1960s), The Sammy Davis Jr. Show (1960s), Hullabaloo (1965–1966), Kraft Music Hall, Tic Tac Dough (nighttime), The Cosby Show, and Another World were produced. It was the home of CBS's soap opera As the World Turns until the series ceased production in 2010. The studio was equipped for color production when it opened in 1954.^[32] In 2000, the facility was sold to JC Studios, which closed in 2014. In June 2015, the building was sold and converted to office and self storage spaces.
• Center Theatre, 1236 Sixth Avenue. Productions included Texaco Star Theater with Milton Berle, Your Show of Shows (1950–1954), Voice of Firestone). The theater was demolished in 1954 for an addition to 1230 Avenue of the Americas.
• Century Theater,^[33][34][35] 932 Seventh Avenue at West 58th Street. Productions included Caesar's Hour with Sid Caesar (1954–1957), Mister Peepers, Treasure Hunt). Leased to Videotape Productions of New York 1958–1961. Demolished in 1962 for construction of an apartment building.
• Colonial Theater,^[36][37] 1887 Broadway at West 62nd Street. It was the taping location of the original version of The Price Is Right hosted by Bill Cullen, 1953–1963, and Colgate Comedy Hour. The studio was the first equipped for color production and originated the first color telecast on November 3, 1953. Demolished in 1977.^[38]
• Florida Showcase, second street-front location for The Today Show, 1962-1965.
• Grumman Studios, Bethpage, New York. Located in the former Grumman Aircraft plant on Long Island. Since 2012, used by NBC for live musicals each December, including The Sound of Music Live, Peter Pan Live, and The Wiz Live.
• Hudson Theatre,^[39][40] 141 West 44th Street. The original home of Tonight hosted by Steve Allen (1954–1957)).^[41] The theater still stands as part of the Millennium Times Square New York hotel and returned to Broadway use in 2017.^[42]
• International Theater,^[43] 5 Columbus Circle. The site of shows such as Admiral Broadway Review (1949), it was demolished in 1954 for the New York Coliseum. The Time Warner Center is now on the site.^[44]
• New Amsterdam Roof Garden Theater, 214 West 42nd Street, converted in 1930.^[45] The rooftop theater is abandoned, but the main auditorium is used as a Broadway theater.^[46]
• RCA Exhibition Hall. Original home of The Today Show, 1952-1958.
• Ziegfeld Theatre,^[47][48][49] 1341 Sixth Avenue at West 54th Street. Shows included The Perry Como Show (from 1956), Concentration (primetime 1961)). It was demolished in 1966 for a 49-story office tower.
• 67th Street Studios, 101 West 67th Street. The Knickerbocker Beer Show aka The Steve Allen Show on WNBT-TV (1953-1954), the direct predecessor to Tonight Starring Steve Allen, originated from here. Also the site of The Home Show with Arlene Francis (1954-1957) and the primetime version of Concentration (1958). Built in 1949 as "9 Television Square" for WOR-TV, it was leased to NBC from 1953 to 1963. Between 1961 and 1968, it became the Videotape Center, owned by independent production company Videotape Productions of New York. The Reeves Lincoln Square Studios took over the space from 1968 to 1970. In 1970, it became ABC's Studios 18 and 19, the production facility for soap opera All My Children, and One Life to Live, until 1990. The building was demolished in 1995, and the site is now the 50-story Millennium Tower apartment building.
• Uptown Studios (now Metropolis Studios), 105 East 106th Street at Park Avenue. The first episode of Howdy Doody in 1947 originated here.
• NBC Universal Network Organization Center, 900 Sylvan Avenue (Route 9W), Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, home of CNBC and CNBC World.
• WNJU facility in Fort Lee, New Jersey; home of both Telemundo flagship WNJU and WNBC's New Jersey bureau, and former home of CNBC.
• WNBC-TV's New York Live formerly (LX: NY) was produced in Studio 51 at nearby 75 Rockefeller Plaza, then moved to Studio 3K.

References

1. "NBC NY Studios". Universal Studios Lot. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
2. "Station Dedicated to Train Conductor Who Died Saving Passengers From Fire". Archived from the original on September 27, 2008.
3. "Studio 1A gets curvy update designed to unify 'Today' space's look". NewscastStudio. September 7, 2021. Retrieved September 7, 2021.
4. "'NBC Nightly News' moves to Studio 1A, with its graphics still a work in progress". NewscastStudio. September 13, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
5. "MSNBC unveils reimagined Studio 3A with 'Deadline: White House'". NewscastStudio. September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
6. "NBCNews.com Video Player". NBC News.
7. Barmash, Jerry (October 19, 2011). "WNBC/Channel 4 Making the Move to Nightly News Studio". FishbowlNY. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
8. Hill, Michael P. (August 9, 2022). "NBC News confirms plans to split Studio 3B into two spaces". newscaststudio.com. HD Media Ventures LLC. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
9. "WNBC moves into its half of the newly-split Studio 3B," from 'NewscastStudio.com, June 11, 2023
10. "NBC New York debuts new studio, graphics, music". NewscastStudio. April 22, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
11. http://www.eyesofageneration.com/Archives_NBC_ND8G.php Archived August 6, 2016, at the Wayback Machine "It is approximately three times as large as 3H, the studio out of which NBC Television has been operating since 1935."
12. "NBCStudio3KCntrlRmDemo.JPG". flickr.com. May 6, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
13. "NBC New York debuts new home, gains more space at 30 Rock". newscaststudio.com. October 10, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
14. "RCA Review" (PDF). American Radio History. Radio Corporation of America. January 1942. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
15. Interview with Herb Stempel ([1]).
16. "NBC Studio 6A TmrrwShw 1976.jpg". flickr.com. May 26, 2007. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
17. "David Letterman Says Goodbye to Mornings". Splitsider.com. February 27, 2015. Archived from the original on June 2, 2015. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
18. Bond, Paul (May 7, 2013). "NBC Dumps $25 Million Jimmy Fallon NYC 'Tonight Show' Studio". The Hollywood Reporter.
19. White, Peter (July 13, 2020). "'The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon' Returns To Studio; Gov. Cuomo Welcomes Him Back To The City". Deadline. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
20. Wagmeister, Elizabeth (May 8, 2023). "'The Kelly Clarkson Show' Moving Cross Country From Universal Lot to 30 Rock". Variety. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
21. "Milton Delugg Interview". Classic Television Showbiz. 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
22. "David Letterman interview with Bob Hope". Late Night with David Letterman. NBC. 1985. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
23. "Tom Snyder interview with Milton Berle". The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder. CBS. 1998. Archived from the original on July 29, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2013.
24. "The David Letterman Show, Interview with Bill Wendell (2 min, 13 second mark)". Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2015 – via YouTube.
25. "Universal Studios Lot".
26. "E! News expands offerings, moves into new NYC home". NewscastStudio. January 17, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2020.
27. Andreeva, Nellie (August 5, 2020). "'E! News', 'Pop Of The Morning', 'In The Room' Canceled By E!". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
28. "Television cameras were the Eyes Of A Generation; this is Television history the way they saw it". eyesofageneration.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
29. "Ambassador Back Oct. 2 As Legitimate Theater". New York Herald Tribune. July 14, 1956. p. 4. ProQuest 1337527525.
30. Ticket for November 11, 1965 taping of Hullabaloo, oldtvtickets.com.
31. Ticket for January 30, 1966 taping of The Sammy Davis Jr. Show, oldtvtickets.com.
32. "RCA-NBC Firsts in Color Television". novia.net. Archived from the original on February 6, 2006.
33. Ticket for May 21, 1955 telecast of The Imogene Coca Show, oldtvtickets.com.
34. Ticket for May 29, 1955 telecast of Mr. Peepers oldtvtickets.com.
35. Tickets for June 18 and August 13, 1958 telecasts of Treasure Hunt, oldtvtickets.com.
36. Ticket for November 30, 1956 telecast of The Walter Winchell Show, oldtvtickets.com
37. Tickets for February 21 and April 11, 1961 telecasts of The Price Is Right, oldtvtickets.com.
38. "Colonial Theater". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
39. Tickets for October 20, 1954, and June 28, August 28, and November 30, 1956 telecasts of Tonight starring Steve Allen, oldtvtickets.com.
40. Ticket for October 23, 1957 telecast of Tonight Starring Jack , oldtvtickets.com.
41. "U.S. Steel-Carnegie Pension's 'Block' Threatens Porn Site; Hudson As Non-Profit Legit?". Variety. Vol. 178, no. 5. March 12, 1975. pp. 3, 75. ProQuest 1285992414.
42. Piepenburg, Erik (February 2, 2017). "The Hudson Theater Is Back on Broadway". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
43. Ticket for October 3, 1951 telecast of The Freddy Martin Show, oldtvtickets.com.
44. "International Theater". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved February 15, 2014.
45. "NBC Acquires Times Square Radio Studio: Former Home of Ziegfeld 'Follies' Transformed Into Elaborate Broadcasting Theater". The Hartford Courant. February 23, 1930. p. E12. ProQuest 557797201.
46. Gershenson, Adam (January 31, 1999). "F.Y.I." The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on October 16, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2021.
47. Ticket for March 12, 1957 telecast of Hold That Note, oldtvtickets.com.
48. Ticket for August 13, 1958 telecast of Haggis Baggis, oldtvtickets.com.
49. Ticket for August 9, 1960 telecast of The Price Is Right, oldtvtickets.com.

External links

• NBC.com
• NBC Universal

40°45′32″N 73°58′44″W / 40.759°N 73.979°W / 40.759; -73.979