GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: NBC Eyes Ex-Worldwide Theaters Site for Underground Studios

NEW YORK CITY-The now-shuttered Worldwide Cinemas may soon be ready for their close-up. Sources tell GlobeSt.com that NBC is past the looking stage and has decided to convert the sprawling subterranean space on 50th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues into television production studios. The network also is said to be discussing the possibility of leasing office space in a new mixed-use building going up across the street from the darkened theaters.

NBC did not return repeated calls for comment, but sources say the network has been eager to shed a large portion of its Rockefeller Center space since the 5.8-million-sf landmark was acquired earlier this year by local developer Jerry Speyer and the Crown family of Chicago. The sale price was $1.85 billion. In addition, plans to expand CNBC’s Fort Lee, NJ headquarters, reportedly back-burnered when the economy began to sag, may be heating up again.

The six-screen underground multiplex is a sensible match for NBC, since its large, contiguous spaces would be ideal for producing the kind of live-audience game shows and talk-fests that have long been network-television staples. The property’s ground-floor entrance would also provide marquis space for high-profile shows such as Late Night with Conan O’Brien, similar to that which David Letterman enjoys a few blocks away at the Ed Sullivan Theater.