Times Square Studios
| Times Square Studios | |
|---|---|
 The logo of Times Square Studios (since an unknown date). | |
| Alternative names | TSSL |
| General information | |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Address | 1500 Broadway |
| Current tenants |
-Good Morning America Assorted other ABC News and ESPN programs (see article for others) |
| Inaugurated | 1999 |
| Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
Times Square Studios (TSS) is an American television studio owned by The Walt Disney Company, located on the southeastern corner of West 44th Street and Broadway in the Times Square area of the borough of Manhattan. The studio is best known as the production home of ABC News' Good Morning America (GMA), a morning news and talk program, segments for other ABC News programs, and various programs on ESPN.
Background
Times Square Studios is on the site of the former Hotel Claridge, built in 1911. In 1972, the hotel was demolished and the current structure, which housed the National Theater,[1] and a Beefsteak Charlie's restaurant, was built. The theater closed in 1998.
The New York Times felt that Times Square Studios was meant to be a response to the new studio NBC had launched at Rockefeller Center for its morning show Today—which marked an era of dominance for the program over ABC's competing Good Morning America. It was argued that Disney needed its own on-air showpiece in a prominent location, and that "a dynamic Manhattan street scene is now considered an essential production element for a morning show".[2]
The facility was designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, Disney's design and development arm, and its senior vice president of concept design Eddie Soto. The team also worked with Roger Goodman, ABC's vice president for special projects, on its facilities for Good Morning America. Soto stated that the design of the building was meant to symbolize a "looking glass" and the idea of "media as architecture". The facade of the building also features a video screen and a pair of news tickers.[2]
Alongside ABC News productions such as Good Morning America, Disney also intended to lease space at the studio for other productions.[2]
Productions at Times Square Studios
- Good Morning America and Good Afternoon America — ABC News' morning program and its temporary summer 2012 afternoon counterpart
- GMA Day — The permanent GMA afternoon counterpart, premiered September 2018
- Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve (Times Square segments) — ABC's New Year's Eve telecast
- ABC News Election Night coverage, biennially every first November Tuesday since 2000
- ABC 2000 Today — ABC News' coverage of the turn of the millennium from December 31, 1999, into January 1, 2000
- ABC & ESPN — National Basketball Association (NBA) pre-game and half-time updates
- Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief, 2017 (New York portions)
Previous productions at Times Square Studios
- 20/20 — an ABC News television-newsmagazine program
- Primetime — an ABC News television-newsmagazine program
- Good Morning America Weekend — The weekend version of GMA; outside of special events, the program is recorded at ABC News's main studio at the ABC Television Center in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan; a Times Square backdrop is projected onto the set's rear-projection screen for continuity purposes
- Olbermann — ESPN2
- Nightline — ABC News' late-night news program, moved to ABC Television Center in 2012
References
- ↑ http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1853
- 1 2 3 Carter, Bill (1999-09-18). "Part ABC Studio, Part Disney Billboard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-05.
Coordinates: 40°45′25″N 73°59′08″W / 40.75694°N 73.98556°W