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| CBS Broadcast Center | |
|---|---|
 The broadcast center at 524 West 57th Street. | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Television studios |
| Location | 524 W.57th Street New York,NY 10019 U.S. |
| Current tenants | CBS News CBS Sports WCBS-TV WLNY-TV |
| Owner | Paramount Global |
TheCBS Broadcast Center is a television and radio production facility located on theWest Side ofMidtownManhattan inNew York City. It isCBS's mainEast Coast production hub, similar toCBS Studio Center inLos Angeles as theWest Coast hub. The Broadcast Center is one of three production facilities in Manhattan utilized byParamount Global. The other two are theEd Sullivan Theater, which hostsThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert, along with the Times Square studios forCBS Mornings, located in the company's headquarters atOne Astor Plaza.
The nearly block-long facility at 524West 57th Street in theHell's Kitchen section ofManhattan serves as theheadquarters ofCBS News and itslive streaming news channel, and is the main broadcast facility for CBS News,CBS Sports, New York City flagshipO&O stationWCBS-TV and CBS-owned independent stationWLNY. In 2001,BET previously used studios for106 & Park and other in-studio shows (both BET and CBS were part ofViacom until their 2006 separation by the Viacom/CBS split, laterre-merged in 2019).CBS Media Ventures's nationally syndicated newsmagazineInside Edition is also produced at the Broadcast Center.
The Broadcast Center is also the production base forCBS News Radio. The network's Master Control (aka Central Control) on the first floor also serves as the routing center for other programming distributed byWestwood One (formerlyDial Global). The radio network's flagship stationWCBS (AM) was housed in the Broadcast Center from 2000 (moving fromBlack Rock, CBS's corporate headquarters at 51 West52nd Street) until 2011 when it relocated to 345 Hudson Street in lower Manhattan, billed on-air as "The Audacy Hudson Square Broadcast Center."
In addition to the Broadcast Center, CBS has one other major studio in Manhattan — theEd Sullivan Theater (CBS-TV Studio 50) at 1697 Broadway, the home ofThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert. TheGeneral Motors Building (CBS-TV Studio 58), onFifth Avenue and 58th Street, was the home ofThe Early Show until December 31, 2011.The Early Show's successor, the second incarnation ofCBS This Morning (predecessor ofCBS Mornings), premiered from newly constructed Studio 57 at the Broadcast Center on January 9, 2012.
TheCBS Evening News moved into Studio 57 from Studio 47 (previously sharing space with the CBS News newsroom) in December 2016.[1] From December 2019 to January 2025 CBS Evening News broadcast out ofWashington, D.C., moving back to the broadcast center in 2025.[2] ViacomCBS announced in May 2021 thatCBS This Morning would vacate the Broadcast Center for the MTV Studios.[3][4] The move was completed on September 7, 2021, whenCBS This Morning rebranded toCBS Mornings.[5]
The building in which the Broadcast Center is located formerly served as a dairy depot forSheffield Farms.[6] CBS purchased the site in 1952. The Center opened as the CBS Production Center in the late 1950s, when the network's master control, film and videotape facilities, and four studios were located in theGrand Central Terminal building.
CBS began using the 57th Street facility regularly for TV in 1963. The radio network, with offices at 1 East 53rd Street and studios at 49 East 52nd Street, near the old CBS corporate headquarters at 485Madison Avenue, moved to the Broadcast Center in July 1964, while the television network's master control moved from Grand Central to the Broadcast Center in late 1964. The company spent $14.5 million to create what was, at the time, "the largest 'self-contained' radio and television production center in the United States and the most modern broadcasting plant of its kind in the world," as theNew York Tribune put it in 1961.[7]
From the 1950s to 1970s, another prominent CBS stage in New York was Studio 52 (now the disco-theaterStudio 54) at 254 West54th Street, around the corner from Studio 50. CBS also leased the Himan Brown studios at 221 West 26th Street, nowChelsea Studios, for several shows in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Until January 2000, the Broadcast Center was home to CBS-TV's soap operaAs the World Turns, which moved toJC Studios in Brooklyn. Former serialsLove of Life,Search for Tomorrow,The Edge Of Night before moving to ABC in December of 1975Love is a Many Splendored Thing,Secret Storm, andWhere the Heart Is were also produced at the Broadcast Center.
After a 37-year absence,Guiding Light returned to the Broadcast Center in September 2005, after 17 years atEUE/Screen Gems studios, 222 East 44th Street and 20 years at theCBS/Himan Brown studios at 221 West 26th Street. The show had been produced in Studio 45 at the CBS Broadcast Center from 1965 to 1968 before moving to West 26th Street.GL used Studios 42 and 45 until its final broadcast on September 18, 2009.
In 1996,Brillstein-Grey Entertainment producedThe Dana Carvey Show at the Broadcast Center forABC. As a jab at CBS (ABC's competition), the show's opening credits had a man with a paper version of theABC logo on a ladder outside of the Broadcast Center covering over theCBS Eye logo while the announcer proclaimed "From the ABC Broadcast Center...".
In early 2012, it was announcedThe Nate Berkus Show would not be renewed. After a few months it was announced thatAnderson Cooper's talk show would move into Studio 42 leaving its home in theTime Warner Center.
Also in 2012, CBS acquired theRiverhead,Long Island-licensedWLNY-TV (Channel 55, cable channel 10), setting up a duopoly with WCBS-TV. Following the merger, CBS moved that station's employees to the CBS Broadcast Center. Their formerMelville facility was maintained as the WCBS/WLNY Long Island bureau offices until 2020 when it was taken over by an independent production company.[8] WLNY currently carries one program from Broadcast Center: a 9pm newscast with WCBS's news personnel from Broadcast Center.Live from the Couch, a morning show airing parallel toCBS This Morning on WCBS, was broadcast on WLNY from 2012 until early 2014, when it was canceled due to low ratings.
HBO satire showLast Week Tonight with John Oliver,Showtime talk showDesus & Mero are also recorded at the Broadcast Center. TBS news satire showFull Frontal with Samantha Bee recorded from the Broadcast Center from its 2016 premiere until the pandemic, before moving to home taping for several months. After that, the latter show moved to Connecticut and a smaller studio without an audience.
On March 12, 2020, one day afterCOVID-19 wasdeclared a pandemic, the CBS Broadcast Center was closed fordisinfection after two employees tested positive for COVID-19. Production of WCBS newscasts was assumed byKCBS-TV, whileCBS This Morning was moved to CBS News's Washington studio (used for theCBS Evening News since December).[9][10][11] The Broadcast Center reopened on a limited basis on March 14, 2020, starting with the Saturday edition ofCBS This Morning from Studio 57;[12] on March 18,ViacomCBS announced that its operations would again temporarily relocate from the Broadcast Center, withCBS This Morning moving to the set ofThe Late Show with Stephen Colbert at theEd Sullivan Theater[13] and KCBS-TV again producing WCBS-TV's newscasts. From March 20, WCBS-TV newscasts were presented from the studios ofNew York Yankees andBrooklyn Nets broadcasterYES Network inStamford, Connecticut,[14][15] before moving back again to the Broadcast Center, beginning on April 17 with the morning newscast. On the June 21, 2020, broadcast of60 in 6,Seth Doane partially covered the Broadcast Center's exposure to COVID-19 in a piece titledCBS News Battles COVID-19.[16] The piece mentions that CBS News flew in staffers, including those located inSeattle andRome in early March 2020 to begin filming promotional material for 60 in 6, which brought COVID-19 positive individuals in close contact with CBS employees which resulted in the shutdown of the CBS Broadcast Center.[17]
In June 2023, CBS chief George Cheeks told staff that the company was exploring a sale of the building.[6][18] At the time, the building covered 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m2) and had large amounts ofair rights, which permitted the development of skyscrapers on the site.[19] The Broadcast Center remains one of the last major pieces of CBS real estate still owned by Paramount; the company previously sold theCBS Building (also known as Black Rock),[20] as well asTelevision City in Los Angeles.[21] By January 2024, CBS was also looking for an investment partner to buy a minority stake in the CBS Broadcast Center.[22] CBS still had not found a buyer or partner as of September 2024[update].[19]
40°46′9″N73°59′24″W / 40.76917°N 73.99000°W /40.76917; -73.99000
