Studio 8H is a

television studio A television studio, also called a television production studio, is an installation room in which video productions take place, either for the production of live television and its recording onto video tape or other media such as SSDs, or for ...

located in

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

, New York City, United States. The studio is a part of NBC Studios, the home of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television network A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

, located at

30 Rockefeller Plaza 30 Rockefeller Plaza (officially the Comcast Building; formerly RCA Building and GE Building) is a skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York. Completed in 1933 ...

. It is most notable for housing the live broadcast of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' (''SNL''), which has been broadcast from the studio since the show's inception in 1975.

Construction

Studio 8H was built in 1933, at the time of

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The 14 original Art De ...

's construction. It was intended not only for orchestral performances but also for radio variety programs with large studio audiences. It became the home of

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

's NBC Symphony Orchestra in 1937. At the time of construction, Studio 8H was the world's largest

radio studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for recording and mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enough to record a single sin ...

, with a height of three stories, which could house a full orchestra. The first ever performance of Samuel Barber's '' Adagio for Strings'' was performed from Studio 8H. It was converted for television use in 1950, primarily for the live broadcast of ''

Kraft Television Theatre ''Kraft Television Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series running from 1947 to 1958. It began May 7, 1947, on NBC, airing at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings until December of that year. It first promoted MacLaren's Impe ...

''.

History

Studio 8H is now most prominent for housing the

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

show ''

'', which is broadcast

live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film * ''Live'' (2023 film), a Malayalam-language film *'' Live: Phát Trực Tiếp'', a Vietnamese-langua ...

. It was revamped just before the 1975 premiere of ''SNL'' at a cost of $250,000. Two episodes of NBC sitcom ''

30 Rock ''30 Rock'' is an American satire, satirical sitcom television series created by Tina Fey that originally aired on NBC from October 11, 2006, to January 31, 2013. The series, based on Fey's experiences as head writer for ''Saturday Night Live' ...

'', " Live Show" and "

Live from Studio 6H "Live from Studio 6H" is the List of 30 Rock episodes, nineteenth episode of the 30 Rock season 6, sixth season of the American television comedy series ''30 Rock'', and the 122nd episode overall. It features a return to Live television, live b ...

" were also broadcast live from the studio, a departure from the show's usual film format. The first season finale of '' The Apprentice'' and the fifth anniversary special of ''

Late Night with Conan O'Brien ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the second installment of the ''Late Night (franchise), Late Night'' franchise originally established by David Letterman. Hosted by Conan O'Brie ...

'' both used the studio for one night each. Likewise, '' Later with Bob Costas'', '' Love, Sidney'', the 50th anniversary television episode of ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' in 1990, '' House Party with Steve Doocy'', and the fifth anniversary special of ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

'' were broadcast from Studio 8H. ''

Last Call with Carson Daly ''Last Call with Carson Daly'' is an American late-night television series that was broadcast by NBC from 2002 to 2019. Hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, the series was initially formatted as a late-night talk show in line with '' ...

'' used the studio until 2005, when the show moved to Studio 9 at the NBC Studios in Burbank, California. The show '' Your Hit Parade'' filmed in 8H, where

Fred Rogers Fred McFeely Rogers (March 20, 1928 – February 27, 2003), better known as Mister Rogers, was an American television host, author, producer, and Presbyterian minister. He was the creator, showrunner, and host of the preschool television s ...

worked writing music for the program. Years later,

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He had his breakthrough as a standup comic before gaining stardom for his film roles; he is widely recognized as one of the greatest comedians of all time. H ...

performed a parody of Mr. Rogers' children’s show character named "Mr. Robinson" on ''Saturday Night Live'' in Studio 8H. In January 1975, a special one-hour episode of the daytime drama '' The Doctors'' was taped in Studio 8H. It was usually taped in Studio 3B. In mid‐1990, ''Today'' relocated its set from Studio 3B to Studio 8H, to allow for construction of a new set that debuted in Studio 3B on September 10, 1990. In May 2002, NBC celebrated its 75th anniversary and used 8H to shoot the live broadcast of the event.

Lorne Michaels Lorne Michaels (born Lorne David Lipowitz; November 17, 1944) is a Canadian and American television writer and film producer. He created and produced ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1980, 1985–present) and produced the ''Late Night (franchise) ...

(executive producer of 8H mainstay ''Saturday Night Live'') executive produced the event. The studio was also used for the live parts of the season finale of '' The Celebrity Apprentice'' on March 27, 2008.

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

's ''

Morning Joe ''Morning Joe'' is an American morning news talk show, which airs weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Zone, Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former United States House of Representatives, US Repr ...

'' news program celebrated its tenth anniversary with a show before a live audience at the studio on September 19, 2017. The studio was also used for the show's post-election coverage on November 7, 2018 as well as November 10, 2016 and November 7, 2012.

References

{{coord, 40.759000, -73.979000, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Television studios in the United States Rockefeller Center Saturday Night Live NBCUniversal