Times Square Studios (TSS) is an American

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 ...

owned by

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...

, located on the southeastern corner of West 44th Street and Broadway in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The studio is best known as having been the production home of

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

' ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' (''GMA''), a morning news and talk program, segments for other ABC News programs, and various programs on

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

Background

Times Square Studios is within

1500 Broadway 1500 Broadway (also known as Times Square Plaza) is an office building on Times Square in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. Completed in 1972 by Arlen Realty & Development Corporation, the 33-story building is tall. The building repl ...

, on the site of the former Hotel Claridge. In 1972, the hotel was demolished and the current structure, which housed the National Theater, was built. The theater closed in 1998. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' felt that Times Square Studios was meant to be a response to the "Window on the World" Studio 1A NBC had launched at

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 ...

for its

morning show Breakfast television (Europe and Australia) or morning show (Canada and the United States) is a type of news broadcasting, news or infotainment television programme that broadcasts Live television, live in the morning (typically broadcast pro ...

'' Today'' in 1994—which marked an era of dominance for the program over ABC's competing ''

''. 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

". The facility was designed by

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc.—commonly referred to as Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineering, or WDI—is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construc ...

, Disney's design and development arm, and its senior vice president of concept design Eddie Sotto. The team also worked with Roger Goodman, ABC's vice president for special projects, on its facilities for ''

''. Sotto 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, both of which are upgraded with state-of-the-art

display technology A display device is an output device for presentation of information in visual or tactile form (the latter used for example in tactile electronic displays for blind people). When the input information that is supplied has an electrical signal ...

every few years. Alongside

productions including ''Good Morning America'', Disney also intended to lease space at the studio for other productions. Under the direction of Tim Hayes, notable early productions originating from Times Square Studios included '' 20/20'', ''

Primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

'', '' ABC College Football'', ''

NBA Shootaround ''NBA Countdown'', branded for sponsorship purposes as ''NBA Countdown Presented by DraftKings, DraftKings Sportsbook'' for ESPN editions and ''NBA Countdown Delivered by Papa John's'' for ABC editions respectively, is a Pre-game show, pregame ...

'', '' The Insider'', ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Par ...

'', and many others between the years 1999 and 2007. The studio began to serve primarily as the home to ''Good Morning America'' in 2007 until 2025 and ended their work with most other programs in the facility.

Productions at Times Square Studios

*''

'' —

morning television program *'' GMA3'' — The permanent ''Good Morning America'' afternoon counterpart, premiered September 2018 *'' Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve'' (Times Square Countdown New Year Celebrations) — ABC's

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

live telecast *

Election Night coverage, biennially every first November Tuesday from 2000 to 2016 *'' ABC 2000 Today'' —

coverage of the turn of the

millennium celebrations The millennium celebrations were a worldwide, coordinated series of events to celebrate and commemorate the end of 1999 and the start of the year 2000 in the Gregorian calendar. The celebrations were held as marking the end of the 2nd millennium, ...

from New Year's Eve (December 31) 1999 into New Year's Day (January 1) 2000 * ABC and

—

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) pre-game and half-time updates * Hand in Hand: A Benefit for Hurricane Relief, 2017 (

portions) *''

ESPN College Football ''ESPN College Football'' is the branding used for broadcasts of NCAA Division I FBS college football across ESPN properties, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN+, ABC, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, ESPNews and ESPN Radio. ''ESPN College Fo ...

'' — some weekly and ''Scoreboard'' coverage, an episode of '' College GameDay'' in 2017. *'' Good Morning America Weekend'' — The weekend version of ''Good Morning America''; outside of special events, the program is recorded at

' main studio at the ABC Television Center in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

; a Times Square backdrop is projected onto the set's rear-projection screen for continuity purposes *''

ABC World News Tonight ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

'' —

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

daily evening television news program *''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

'' —

late-night

news program News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either video production, produced local programming ...

*''

World News Now ''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC and ABC News Live. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with ...

'' —

overnight

*'' Olbermann'' —

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between the Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially ...

*'' 20/20'' —

television-newsmagazine program

References

{{Disney Recording studios in Manhattan Television studios in the United States Times Square American Broadcasting Company Disney production studios Entertainment companies based in New York City Buildings and structures completed in 1999 1999 establishments in New York City

Background

Productions at Times Square Studios

See also

References