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Bill Jartz didn't do the 10pm on his final two days as I thought he would. The 6pm earlier tonight ended up being his last. They extended it by two minutes to let him say goodbye. A class act by the station to do so.

There's definitely intriguing logic here. However, my guess is that TODAY will stay put at 10 Rockefeller Plaza. With ABC moving GMA downtown and CBS returning to that old milk factory in Hell's Kitchen (not that they have ever leveraged their Times Square location), it could be a bit of an advantage for NBC to keep 1A operating, especially with the ability to continue outdoor concerts. I think the smarter play would be to rent out one of their empty studios to a third party. This would bring in rental revenue, and 3A and 3K are able to hold audiences. And if rumors are to be believed, 6A might also be open if Clarkson winds down her show at the end of next season. (But seeing that it is a rumor the NY Post continually publishes, I'm not giving it a whole lot of weight) I know there aren't a ton of productions looking for space right now, but it is something to consider. Speaking of renting, I'm guessing MSNBC will rent their current space from NBC until their new studios are completed. So it might be status quo for 18 months or more.

Segments from today's final edition of Around the Horn: The first segment: The ending:

Honestly, it would not surprise me in the least if this hypothetical new 3A set ended up being for Nightly, NBC News Now, and Today. Not only is a bunch of studio space and newsroom space about to open up, but technical spaces as well. It would not shock me at all if NBC chose to consolidate everything inside 30 Rock. The streetside studio thing has to be becoming more trouble than it's worth, and they're about to have at least two full control rooms open up.

It's the overall look of Studio 1A. The set was designed for a morning show and lacks flexibility to be used in other ways, imo. With MSNBC leaving, it's highly unlikely that space will be left unused, so it opens up the possibility of Nightly moving. Plus, it wouldn't make much sense to have Llamas doing Nightly in 1A and then moving to 4E for Top Story. Best to have both programs in a new space together. Studio 4E is showing some wear and tear too these days.

It should be another lesson to media writers that they need to stop being 'viewer HR' and that day-to-day work status of TV show hosts is not a story that needs to be reported, and that these people deserve to have private lives and grieve. This is especially cruel because they helped spread the same trash to her Wikipedia article and folks had to edit around vandals that yes, she still works for the show. So much sympathy for her and her family, and I'm sure everyone at 1A feels the same.

I suspended the business case and practicality of a separate space by clarifying that the audience doesn’t give a sh*t about this stuff. Most people who have made the observation, like those here, aren’t the majority of viewers.

WTWO announced today it has hired former WTHI anchor Patrece Dayton as a part time reporter. Dayton was part of the massive layoffs at WTHI/Allen Media earlier in the year.

I genuinely don't understand the angst regarding Nightly broadcasting from Studio 1A. Is it just sentimental longing for a dedicated space? From a business perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense to build a standalone studio for a show with a 22-minute runtime where the studio itself is on camera for a few minutes. The economic realities make Nightly's use of 1A completely reasonable. Heck, Nightly started switching the show from the 1A control back room during Brian Williams' tenure. I don't see the practical need for a big production space for a solo-anchored newscast like this. ABC World News Tonight uses a shared studio space, but outside of a bump shot, the show is mostly a static shot of David seated in front of an LED wall. And this is the top-rated evening newscast, and on occasion, has been the most watched show on television. So while the set in Studio 1A might be a little long in the tooth, it seems perfectly serviceable. Lester's ratings didn't drop when they moved to 1A. And I doubt Tom's would spike if they had their own space. When budgets are being slashed, the priority should be to keep investing in newsgathering resources. Building a new set to say you have a dedicated space doesn't seem like a good use of shrinking resources. But I might be missing something here.

Just awful. This will put to rest the speculation about why Sheinelle has been absent so much.

Today co-host Sheinelle Jones has lost her husband at the age of 45 due to an aggressive form of brain cancer: https://www.today.com/news/today-staff-react-sheinelle-jones-husband-uche-ojeh-death-rcna208455

https://www.today.com/news/today-staff-react-sheinelle-jones-husband-uche-ojeh-death-rcna208455 Sheinelle Jones husband Uche Ojeh has passed away from an agressive form of brain cancer at the age of 45

That WNBC set was the one in 6B before Fallon took it over. 3K is something like 3/4 to 2/3 the size of 6B. There's going to be a glut of extra space on the 3rd floor once MSNBC moves out. I'd suspect they'll refresh/replace the set in 3A once that happens and hand it over to Nightly.

I know this is one of those things viewers probably don’t actually care about BUT I hate it. NNN is an institution, it feels beneath its history to not have a dedicated space.

The set Brian Williams got about twonto three years in sucked compared to the late era Brokaw set. IMO that was Nightly News's best era visually (2000-2007). Yeah Studio 1A looked way better when they changed up the set for Meredith.

I don't care for Nightly in 1A. It would be nice to have Nightly/Top Story in its own studio along with special reports/breaking news. Could use for other broadcasts as well.

If they want a new studio, Studio 3K may be perfect permanent place for Tom to anchoring Nightly News, It is currently vacant since WNBC moved to newly-renovated and half-sized 3B (together with WNJU) in 2023. Studio 3K is a very large studio, and much larger than Studio 1A that Nightly currently use. Assuming that NBCU think that the new studio (even new graphics) for Tom is necessary, they could renovate that recently-vacant studio to make it more "European-feel".

And hopefully a new studio is in the cards too. Studio 1A has never felt right for Nightly, imo

Just like when Brian Williams took over from Tom Brokaw, they waited a bit to switch up the graphics to ease in the change for the viewers. The networks did the same when transitioning from Charles Gibson to Diane Sawyer to David Muir. Same went for the morning shows Bryant/Katie to Katie/Matt etc.

Are young people even consuming NBC News digitally?

The last time Nightly News rebrand is in June 2023, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of NBC television newscast (Remember, they ditched Serif-based font in favor of NBC Tinker one to more aligned with NBC proper branding). The rebrand was happened two years before Tom takes over Lester's role permanently in June 2025. I also think that current graphics package is too futuristic but still relevant for digital audiences, which are most consumed by younger people. When Tom Llamas takes over the role 11 days from now, the current graphics package will be even more relevant, given how much younger Tom currently as a anchor (born in 1979).

So... Getting that we will have no major visual changes other than Lester being swapped out for Tom, which makes sense since graphics package is still new enough. Nice touch to add Brian Williams in the mix... NBC has a history of conveniently omitting host tenures of some shows the network sees as a blemish to the franchise...

Remove the Fox branding? That's only for their CBS/NBC affiliates.

When and why did they replace the weather center desk? Less than 3 months in the current studio.

Awesome! I'm going to give Channels a shot. Thanks!