Rock Center with Brian Williams
Encyclopedia
Rock Center with Brian Williams is an American weekly television newsmagazine
broadcast by NBC
, and hosted by NBC Nightly News
anchor Brian Williams
. It debuted on October 31, 2011, and airs on Mondays.
Rock Center is being produced in "Studio 3B", the same space where the Today Show studio was before they moved to their current location "Studio 1A".
The show replaces the canceled drama series The Playboy Club
. Named after the location of the NBC News
headquarters in the GE Building
at 30 Rockefeller Center
, the program is the first new NBC News
program to launch in primetime since Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric
debuted in 1993.
Rock Center is designed to be more serious than NBC's existing prime time newsmagazine, Dateline NBC
, which has increasingly delved into human interest and true crime
stories, and has switched from a multiple-story format into a single story format.
interviewed former Penn State Nittany Lions football
assistant coach Jerry Sandusky
. Sandusky proclaimed his innocence in light of recent child sex abuse charges against him
, despite acknowledging inappropriate contact with the victims, and denied the alleged cover-up by his former employers. Sandusky would insist that he is not a pedophile. It was Sandusky's first public interview since the abrupt firing of head coach Joe Paterno
the week before, whom Sandusky had served as defensive coordinator under for decades with the Nittany Lions.
. Rock Center was the third ranked show in the timeslot behind new episodes of ABC
's Castle
, and CBS
's Hawaii Five-0.
Rock Center with Brian Williams has received mixed and moderate reviews. Metacritic scores Rock Center with Brian Williams a 63 out of a possible 100, defining the series as generally favourable.
Linda Stasi of New York Post
, gave the series a 3.5 out of 4. Stasti wrote "so smart, so unexpected, so entertaining and yet so informative that you might think you just stepped back in time 20 years". Matt Roush of Tv Guide
gave the series a moderate review, stating "Substantive without being stuffy, workmanlike but something less than a wow." "Nothing cheesy or sleazy, But nothing really electrifying happened, either.". James Poniewozik
of Time
, also gave the series a moderate, general review. "Rock Center may not be a ratings smash, and not all its experiments may work. But the good news is, Williams and Stewart can both keep their day jobs.". Hank Stuever
of Washington Post gave the series a positive review. Stuever wrote "The result was assured, quick-paced and enjoyably flavored with a few spicy dashes of Brian Williams's dry rub.". Alessandra Stanley
of The New York Times
gave Rock Center with Brian Williams a general, neutral review. Stansley said “Rock Center is still a work in progress, so it’s hard to judge how it will fare. But it’s already clear that Mr. Williams wasn’t chosen to host it because of his stature as a news anchor. Mostly, he is there to draw viewers who think of him as a funny TV personality who sometimes moonlights delivering the news.".
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
broadcast by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, and hosted by NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
anchor Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
. It debuted on October 31, 2011, and airs on Mondays.
Rock Center is being produced in "Studio 3B", the same space where the Today Show studio was before they moved to their current location "Studio 1A".
The show replaces the canceled drama series The Playboy Club
The Playboy Club
The Playboy Club is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 2011 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers around the employees of the original Playboy Club operating in Chicago....
. Named after the location of the NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
headquarters in the GE Building
GE Building
The GE Building is an Art Deco skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the midtown Manhattan section of New York City. Known as the RCA Building until 1988, it is most famous for housing the headquarters of the television network NBC...
at 30 Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
, the program is the first new NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
program to launch in primetime since Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric
Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric
Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric both hosted Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric. The show aired on NBC from 1993-1994. It was a newsmagazine based program. It was folded into another edition of Dateline NBC. Brokaw and Couric became contributing anchors to Dateline.-See also:*Rock Center with Brian...
debuted in 1993.
Rock Center is designed to be more serious than NBC's existing prime time newsmagazine, Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
, which has increasingly delved into human interest and true crime
True crime
True crime is a non-fiction literary and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people.The crimes most commonly include murder, but true crime works have also touched on other legal cases. Depending on the writer, true crime can adhere strictly to...
stories, and has switched from a multiple-story format into a single story format.
Correspondents
- Harry SmithHarry Smith (television)Harry Smith is an American television journalist. He hosted the CBS News morning programs, The Early Show and its predecessor, CBS This Morning, for 17 years...
- Kate SnowKate SnowKate Snow is an American television journalist and correspondent for NBC's newsmagazine Dateline. In addition, she has also filled in as anchor for Nightly News. Prior to joining NBC, she was a co-anchor for the weekend edition of Good Morning America on ABC from 2004 to 2010...
- Ted KoppelTed KoppelEdward James "Ted" Koppel is an English-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline from the program's inception in 1980 until his retirement in late 2005. After leaving Nightline, Koppel worked as managing editor for the Discovery Channel before resigning in 2008...
as special correspondent - Chelsea ClintonChelsea ClintonChelsea Victoria Clinton is a television journalist, currently serving as Special Correspondent for NBC News, and philanthropist, working through the Clinton Global Initiative. She is the only child of former U.S...
as special correspondent - Bob CostasBob CostasRobert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
- NBC Sports anchor; Host, Football Night in AmericaFootball Night in AmericaFootball Night in America is the studio pregame show usually preceding NBC's broadcasts of Sunday night and Wild Card Saturday National Football League games starting in the 2006 National Football League season... - Meredith VieiraMeredith VieiraMeredith Louise Vieira is an American journalist, television personality, and game show host. She is best known for her roles as the original moderator of the ABC talk program The View and co-host of the long-running NBC News morning news program, Today...
- Richard Engel - NBC News chief foreign correspondent
- Nancy SnydermanNancy SnydermanNancy L. Snyderman, MD is an American physician and broadcast journalist. Since 2006, she has been the chief medical editor for NBC News, and frequently appears on NBC's Today and MSNBC to discuss medicine-related issues...
- NBC News chief medical editor - Matt LauerMatt LauerMatthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
- co-host of Today - Ann CurryAnn CurryAnn Curry is an American television news journalist and co-anchor on NBC's morning television program Today. She is the former news anchor on Today, a role she began in March 1997, and was the host of Dateline NBC from 2005-2011.Curry is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Biography:Curry was born in...
- co-host of Today - Natalie MoralesNatalie MoralesNatalie Leticia Morales is the news anchor for NBC's Today.-Career:Morales was an anchor and correspondent for MSNBC from 2002 to 2006...
- news anchor of Today
Notable events
The program received considerable attention for its November 14, 2011 episode in which Bob CostasBob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
interviewed former Penn State Nittany Lions football
Penn State Nittany Lions football
The Penn State Nittany Lions football team represents the Pennsylvania State University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Big Ten Conference. It is one of the most tradition-rich and storied college football programs in the...
assistant coach Jerry Sandusky
Jerry Sandusky
Gerald Arthur "Jerry" Sandusky is a retired American football coach. Sandusky served as an assistant coach for his entire career, mostly at Pennsylvania State University under Joe Paterno, and was one of the most notable major college football coaches never to have held a head coaching position. ...
. Sandusky proclaimed his innocence in light of recent child sex abuse charges against him
Penn State sex abuse scandal
The Penn State sex abuse scandal refers to allegations that former Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky sexually assaulted or had inappropriate contact with at least eight underage boys on or near university property...
, despite acknowledging inappropriate contact with the victims, and denied the alleged cover-up by his former employers. Sandusky would insist that he is not a pedophile. It was Sandusky's first public interview since the abrupt firing of head coach Joe Paterno
Joe Paterno
Joseph Vincent "Joe" Paterno is a former college football coach who was the head coach of the Penn State Nittany Lions for 46 years from 1966 through 2011. Paterno, nicknamed "JoePa," holds the record for the most victories by an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision football coach with...
the week before, whom Sandusky had served as defensive coordinator under for decades with the Nittany Lions.
Episodes
| Episode # |
Title | Production code |
18-49 age demo/% Share | U.S. Viewers (millions) |
Original air date |
|---|
Ratings and Reception
The show premeired to a 1.0 adult 18-49 rating and 4.14 million viewers. This is less (in a 18-49 rating) than the 1.2 rating from the show it replaced, The Playboy ClubThe Playboy Club
The Playboy Club is an American television series that ran on NBC from September 19, 2011 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers around the employees of the original Playboy Club operating in Chicago....
. Rock Center was the third ranked show in the timeslot behind new episodes of ABC
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin alphabet. They may refer to:- Broadcasting media :* American Broadcasting Company, a private US broadcaster* Australian Broadcasting Corporation, national publicly funded broadcaster of Australia...
's Castle
Castle (TV series)
Castle is an American comedy-drama television series, which premiered on ABC on March 9, 2009. The series is produced by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios. On January 10, 2011, Castle was renewed for a fourth season...
, and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Hawaii Five-0.
Rock Center with Brian Williams has received mixed and moderate reviews. Metacritic scores Rock Center with Brian Williams a 63 out of a possible 100, defining the series as generally favourable.
Linda Stasi of New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, gave the series a 3.5 out of 4. Stasti wrote "so smart, so unexpected, so entertaining and yet so informative that you might think you just stepped back in time 20 years". Matt Roush of Tv Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
gave the series a moderate review, stating "Substantive without being stuffy, workmanlike but something less than a wow." "Nothing cheesy or sleazy, But nothing really electrifying happened, either.". James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik
James Poniewozik is an American journalist and television critic. He writes Times Tuned In column and has a blog with the same name.Originally from Monroe, MI, Poniewozik attended the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, graduating with a BA in English. He subsequently attended the graduate program...
of Time
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
, also gave the series a moderate, general review. "Rock Center may not be a ratings smash, and not all its experiments may work. But the good news is, Williams and Stewart can both keep their day jobs.". Hank Stuever
Hank Stuever
Hank Stuever is an American journalist who writes about popular culture for the Style section of the Washington Post. In 2009, he became one of the paper's TV critics. He is a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, in 1993 and 1996...
of Washington Post gave the series a positive review. Stuever wrote "The result was assured, quick-paced and enjoyably flavored with a few spicy dashes of Brian Williams's dry rub.". Alessandra Stanley
Alessandra Stanley
Alessandra Stanley is an American journalist. In 2003 she became the television critic for The New York Times. Stanley was previously co-chief of the paper's Moscow bureau, Rome bureau chief, and as a correspondent for Time. She is the daughter of defense expert Timothy W...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
gave Rock Center with Brian Williams a general, neutral review. Stansley said “Rock Center is still a work in progress, so it’s hard to judge how it will fare. But it’s already clear that Mr. Williams wasn’t chosen to host it because of his stature as a news anchor. Mostly, he is there to draw viewers who think of him as a funny TV personality who sometimes moonlights delivering the news.".