New 'Today' set: back to its roots
The display-window facility will have the Center's world-famous skating rink and the surrounding flags as a backdrop, allowing passers-by to watch the goings-on inside.
The move to the new studio returns "Today" to its roots. From its debut in 1952 until 1958 the show was broadcast in a similar space on 49th St. in what was then the RCA Exhibition Hall. The new studio won't be on the exact site of "Today's"original home, but will be just down the block from where the show was launched.
No occupancy date has been set; however, NBC sources expect it will be sometime in mid-1994.
"Today" executive producer Steve Friedman has been a champion of the move to the new space, according to NBC sources. An advocate of interactive TV, Friedman is expected to use the studio's window-on-the-world locale to do person-on-the-street interviews.
NBC honchos were sold on the move, an idea that has been kicking around the network since 1980, in the hopes it would give "Today" an edge in the morning show sweepstakes.
"Today," with an average rating of 4.1 for the third quarter, has been trailing ABC's "Good Morning America" by a mere .2 of a rating point.
NBC News is expected to announce the show's move from its current windowless studios inside 30 Rock to the new digs at a press conference here Monday. Jack Welch, chairman of NBC parent General Electric, will be on hand, along with Peacock web chairman Bob Wright and news division president Andrew Lack.
Welch's attendance at the "Today" announcement is seen inside the web as part of an ongoing public relations push to demonstrate G.E.'s commitment to NBC and lay to rest the perpetual rumor that the network is on the block.
Welch has been much more visible at 30 Rock in recent months, including fielding questions from NBC news staffers at a confab to announce Lack's appointment as news division prexy last April.
