On November 15, 1926, a new radio network founded by RCA aired its first broadcast. Its name was NBC, and on Sunday, November 15, 2026, it turns 100. Most of the network's history was made a few blocks apart in Midtown, at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where NBC has been based since 1933, and the centennial is easiest to see there too.

The exhibit on West 52nd Street

The Paley Museum, at 25 West 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, one block north of Rockefeller Center, opened NBC100: A Century Together on September 18. The interactive exhibit gathers costumes, props and sets from a century of NBC programming.

The wardrobe section includes the outfit Julia Louis-Dreyfus wore as Elaine on Seinfeld and the many-layered look Matt LeBlanc wore on Friends in the episode where Joey puts on every piece of Chandler's clothing. Props and memorabilia come from ER, Friday Night Lights, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Meet the Press, Parenthood, The Howdy Doody Show and The Sound of Music Live.

Visitors can sit behind Johnny Carson's Tonight Show desk, take a coach's chair from The Voice, step onto a TODAY set or stand on an Olympic victory podium. Children can design their own NBC peacock in a crafts area. The museum's theaters are running a retrospective screening series of NBC programming alongside the exhibit.

Inside 30 Rock

The Tour at NBC Studios goes behind the scenes at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, home of Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers. Depending on the day's production schedule, the tour may stop in Studio 8H, where SNL has been made since 1975. It ends with the group producing a short show of its own. Tours run 75 to 90 minutes, enter through the Sixth Avenue entrance between 49th and 50th Streets, and are not open to children 7 and under.

On weekday mornings, TODAY broadcasts from Studio 1A behind the street-level windows on the plaza. That show turns 75 in January 2027.

A century in a few dates

According to Rockefeller Center, NBC led the move into television in 1939, aired the first televised World Series in 1947 and began color broadcasting in 1953. NBCUniversal is marking the centennial all year under the name NBC100: A Century Together.

More milestones on the same block

The Rink at Rockefeller Center, which opened on Christmas Day 1936, three years after NBC moved into 30 Rock, is in its 90th season. Skating opened October 10, with 60-minute sessions starting at $22, and a new Skate House opens on November 14.

On television, NBC airs the 100th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 26 and a three-hour live special marking a century of its programming on Thursday, December 10, also streaming on Peacock.

Plan your visit

The Paley Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is $20 for adults, $16 for students, teachers, seniors, veterans and first responders, and free for children 12 and under and for Paley members. Timed tickets are sold on the museum's website, with walk-ups admitted when space allows. Tickets for The Tour at NBC Studios are sold in advance on the tour's official website. The B, D, F and M trains stop at 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center, and the E and M stop at Fifth Avenue–53rd Street.

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