North American Affilliates/Network Set Design

Rockefeller Center is also one of the most famous buildings in New York and, as the home of Radio City, an international media history icon. It has even given its name to a cult sitcom: 30 Rock.

It has been the subject of books:


Amazon.com

And the location of New York's Christmas tree lighting ceremony, which is televised nationally:


NBC New York

Rockefeller Center is certainly an impressive facility. When Conan O'Brien left for the Tonight Show and was still a very happy NBC employee, he called it the Mount Olympus of television, and I can not think of a better description. There isn't really a more impressive, massive, consolidated broadcasting facility in the world other than perhaps CCTV's building in Beijing. BBC NBH might be up there too, but isn't the BBC a little more scattered? As far as I know, the only NBC property in New York that's not based at Rockefeller Center is CNBC.

...Though I would agree with others that they might be overdoing it with all the Rock Center and NYC influence. That was my complaint about the new open when it debuted last fall. It's very clearly trying to mimic ITV's News at Ten circa 2008 open as well as, to some extent, Nightly News' late 80s open. But it just doesn't work in that short time, and it looks even stranger when the show comes from outside New York yet they still use it.

It's no secret on here that I'm a big CBS fan, and while their graphics are still all over the place, I do really like CBS Studio 57's more understated nod to New York City by broadcasting from a raw, authentic building with real, exposed brick, steel, and some contemporary touches with all the glass and light wood. Plus, the CBS Evening News open includes a world map and features many different US city skylines depending on the night and whether you get the eastern or western edition. The eastern edition usually ends on a shot of New York City (maybe DC or Boston too?) while out west, it alternates between shots of the LA and Seattle skylines and the Golden Gate Bridge.

Edit: I should add that I really liked the Nightly News open from the early 2000s — a very nice, simple, and slow pan in front of the plaza. I think this is a better approach than the current animation, and it fits the music much better:

The Rockefeller Center certainly is amazing. I'd definitely recommend the NBC tour to anyone who makes their way over there - we got to go into the studios for the Nightly News and SNL, and we just casually walked past Mike Tyson as well.

Yes - though the tour is VERY US-centric, and implied that TV was invented in the US when I did it...

What is interesting is how the main 30 Rock building was effectively built for Radio and not TV - and so some of the TV studio spaces are actually quite compromised.

Does anyone know the reason behind moving Nightly back to 3C? I've seen suggestions it's for Megyn Kelly's new show, but given Sunday Night has come from the new upper newsroom (4E), if this is the case I'd assume it's for her 9am weekday show launching later in the year?

Also, where are the MSNBC shows that used to come from 4K (where Chris Hayes and Lawrence O'Donnell used to come from, before it was repurposed for WNBC New York) now broadcast from? I thought it had been 3C for a while, but presumably that isn't the case now?

This is true, but as is everything over there

No offense but what do you expect on a tour of a US based TV company. It's worth noting that the first electronic television was successfully demonstrated in San Francisco. And supposedly the oldest transmitting station is WRGB in 1928. But to the BBC's credit they started broadcasting a regular schedule in 1936.


Megan Kelly's show isn't live. The segments are taped in the working part of the newsroom during the week. The non essential monitors that can be seen from 4E's studio along the wall with the real windows that typically display the MSNBC and other feeds display Sunday Night graphics. You can see them in the background sometimes during the bulletins.

I imagine they realized 3B was wasted space as only Nightly came from one half of a large studio. The studio was designed originally for Nightly and Rock Center - so they could have interview guests in a different setting than a desk. Meanwhile WNBC was cramped in studio 3C and the local news operation needed a bigger space, so they inherited MSNBC studio 3K where most of the shows based there had moved to 4E. In the case of Chris Hayes and Lawrence they come from 4E - with the desk turned 90° to the right. The host's back is against the video wall and the first two guests are against the other wall if there are three or more guests their back is to the glass wall of the newsroom.

I kind of expected a TV company with a news arm to tell the truth. The guide basically said TV was invented in the US and NBC was the first in the world to do it...


Don't mind US firsts being discussed, and wouldn't expect the BBC to be referenced - but the BBC did get there first with a regular (and by that time, all electronic) TV service starting in 1936... Saying NBC was the worlds first TV broadcaster? Wouldn't expect that...

I've done tours of NHK in Japan, SVT in Sweden, NRK in Norway and quite a few other places. They all correctly referred to the BBC AND their own history... It all felt a bit parochial at NBC if I'm honest.

When was your tour? It sounds like something done during the GE era and the American superiority complex.

Today they were rehearsing the weekend editions of Nightly News in the studio with the expectation of starting next week.

We've been practicing in our new @NBCNightlyNews home! Anchoring from there starting next Sun pic.twitter.com/Ps83ZpNYXa

— Kate Snow (@tvkatesnow) July 16, 2017

2000 I think.



Oh my... I try never to judge a set by anything other than the broadcast camera output - but...

That neon NBC sign appears to be a clever bit of optical illuson, similar to the Channel 4 logo outside Horseferry Road. Not sure what the point of it is, mind.

Judging by Friday's broadcast the peacock did not appear on the desk or broadcast at all.