NBC News unveils new headquarters at 30 Rock; speakers are execs, Williams, Mayor -- and Olbermann!

[DeepModem Mom]

Hollywood Reporter: NBC: A busy newsgatherer
By Paul J. Gough
Oct 12, 2007

NEW YORK -- When NBC News' planned facility at Universal City becomes operational in 2011, it will have as its model the NBC News World Headquarters that was unveiled Thursday at 30 Rockefeller Center. Six months in construction, the facility on the third and fourth floors of the Manhattan landmark will provide the latest in digital and high-definition production facilities and unite the East Coast operations of NBC News. MSNBC, for a decade based across the Hudson River in New Jersey, is moving to 30 Rock.

"We wanted to have everybody under one roof, sharing technical services and again, being greater than the individual parts," NBC News president Steve Capus said. NBC Uni chief Jeff Zucker, a veteran of the news division, said at a ceremony Thursday night that the new third-floor studio is a giant leap forward from the space he knew 20 years ago....

Also speaking were Capus, anchor Brian Williams, MSNBC host Keith Olbermann and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg pitched Zucker on a primetime show starring himself and said that he was happy that MSNBC was leaving New Jersey, though he still has respect for the state.

"There are a lot of electoral votes in New Jersey," he joked, alluding to rumors that he would jump into the 2008 presidential race. Bloomberg said he was just kidding.

The New York facility has 8,500 square feet of studio space, 280 high-definition monitors and six HD projectors, with a 50-foot platform for the MSNBC anchor spot. Studio 3A will be the production site for MSNBC, while "NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams" will originate from Studio 3C. The fact that NBC News and MSNBC producers are working close to one another, providing a seamless transition, is one of his favorite parts of the project, Capus said....

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3if4ef26bbb490c2c55071b184db211c5b