It's a Wrap at MTV's Times Square Studio

The National soundchecks at MTV. Photo by Jen Carlson/Gothamist

It's the end of an era. Maybe not a great era, but an era none-the-less. Around the time that MTV started shilling to the tweenaged masses, they moved into their 1515 Broadway studios in Times Square. The year was 1997, the Real World cast was in Boston, and the network was only just starting to be criticized for their lack of, you know, music videos.

Now The NY Post is reporting that, following the end of TRL last year, the studios that overlooked the Crossroads of the World may be changing hands by next year.

Landlord SL Green has put the space on the market, saying it could go retail or to another broadcast, but Viacom didn't renew the studio's lease. He told the paper, "We're taking it back from MTV at end of year. We're actively marketing it, and we think it will be the crowning touch of the retail development we've done since we bought the building." They note that the space lists "at $450 a square foot for the studio, and a whopping $1,000 a square foot for the 1,624-square-foot MTV store at street level, which must be taken with the studio space, for a total rent of $11.6 million a year."

John Norris gave us his thoughts on the alleged studio closure; he joined the MTV team when they were at their second home, "a pretty ramshackle facility at 42nd and 10th Ave known at the time as National video" (and later home to NY1).

"The Times Square studio opening marked a pretty spectacular (though less spacious) upgrade. Obviously it became emblematic of a new era and new look for MTV.

It was never about the set as much as the windows, never as much about who was hosting as it was who was guesting, and of course the crowds outside. Needless to say broadcast and cable networks the world over took a cue from the TRL model and created nutso, sign-waving-crowds of their own.

But the studio it seems was indelibly linked to TRL. When TRL ended last November, a lot of us wondered what would happen to the studio. Apparently now we see. The Alexa Chung show this summer didn't even use the windows. If you're not gonna use that view, why pay that rent?"

He also shared an anecdote from the glory days, saying when he visited the Times Square location for the first time "it was a bank! I remember walking through it and having someone tell me 'OK there's where the control room is gonna be.'"

Comments (20) [rss]

[1] | WesleySnipesAlot

And nothing of value was lost!

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:00 PM

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TSOL replied to comment from WesleySnipesAlot

LOL- nice "Critic" reference!

Reply | August 12, 2009 12:43 PM

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[2] | EastRiver

Around the time that MTV started schilling to the tweenaged masses

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I believe it's shilling. Schilling is a unit of currency in Austria or a former major league baseball pitcher with a bloody sock.

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:04 PM

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[3] | matty

Not coincidentally this was the exact year that music went from bearable to utter and total shit.

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:07 PM

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Tpooh2 replied to comment from matty

Hey! Don't hate on the Mmm Bop and Barbie Girl. Classics.

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:42 PM

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BklynsFinest replied to comment from matty

jeez when i read that list it's like scrolling through a music time warp, i can hear each of the songs in bit sized (though oft indigestible) segments

Reply | August 11, 2009 6:19 PM

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matty replied to comment from matty

Incidentally this is also Jen Carlson's ipod playlist.

Reply | August 11, 2009 6:32 PM

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NannyState replied to comment from matty

Oh you're cruel...fair, but cruel.

Reply | August 11, 2009 8:05 PM

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NannyState replied to comment from matty

And in comes J. Crew to keep the vapidity lights burning.

Reply | August 11, 2009 8:07 PM

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Jen Carlson replied to comment from matty

hey, Bittersweet Symphony is a good song!

Reply | August 11, 2009 8:35 PM

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Ph replied to comment from matty

Hey now, a lot of those songs are friggen awesome. Don't be hatin'.

Reply | August 12, 2009 7:40 AM

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[4] | girl_least_likely_to

good riddance

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:11 PM

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[5] | SohoTimmy

Mr. Norris, I think there is a show called "The Today Show" that used this format for 40 years before your employer did. Asswipe.

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:18 PM

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longacre replied to comment from SohoTimmy

Um, no. The Today Show built their street-level studio after TRL.

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:52 PM

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[6] | Matt Joyce

I worked in that building. It was a nightmare of a place to commute to and from. A million screaming midwestern jerkoffs outside the place, plus 2 million more retarded tourists blocking the sidewalks. Glad as hell I don't work there anymore.

As for MTV... they haven't had a worthwhile program on since liquid television, we're all just waiting for that network to die the death it so richly deserves.

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:36 PM

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[8] | The Man Bat

I just wanna say that Alexa Chung is Hot.As.F*ck.

and she is smart and funny to boot!!

Alexa, if you are reading this....call me!!

Reply | August 11, 2009 3:45 PM

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[10] | babyhitler

I was in the generation right before Mtv Trl. The one where they would beat you up if you were ugly, awkward and gross. The heathers generation X. Now, Generation Y comes along and cause of liberal PC brainwashing they made it seem okay to be ugly and gross. Then all of a sudden you'd see a ocean of ugly gross pubescent nerd kids everyday with braces and acne just lollygagging into the camera shouting shit to their friends as if anyone cared on what they voted on as #1 even though the show was totally rigged and bought for with payola. Inhuman beings without shame, angst, self introspection or any of the shit that john hughes and cameron crowe inculcated into us. Then the aftereffects of TRL happened and they were bad side effects. Paris Hilton, Soulja Boy, hell the entire reality television fad can be blamed on Mtv. How the hell did we let the innocence of Adam Curry introducing a Dire straits or information society video morph into subliminal pederasty and the de facto cultural bankruptcy of mankind?

Reply | August 11, 2009 4:28 PM

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dev replied to comment from babyhitler

Well said. I couldn't agree more.

Reply | August 11, 2009 4:52 PM

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BklynsFinest replied to comment from babyhitler

We have a winner!

Reply | August 11, 2009 6:18 PM

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[12] | Clarice City

"Seacrest out!"
-Kari Ferrell

Reply | August 11, 2009 5:15 PM

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It's a Wrap at MTV's Times Square Studio

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