NBC page explained

The NBC Page Program is a 12-month paid fellowship at the NBCUniversal studios in New York City and Universal City, California.[1] Pages contribute to various teams while on business, consumer, and content assignments. East Coast pages also give tours and work in audience services at NBC Studios in New York City. Notable people who began their careers as NBC pages include Gregory Peck, Eva Marie Saint, Regis Philbin, Michael Eisner, Ted Koppel, Trevor Moore and Aubrey Plaza.[2]

Background

NBC began the page program in 1933 at its Rockefeller Center headquarters,[3] later expanding it to the West Coast studios in Universal City. In the 1950s, NBC also offered page positions at their owned-and-operated stations, such as WRC in Washington, D.C. where future Today Show personality Willard Scott was an NBC page. Selection is highly competitive, with only 212 pages selected a year out of more than 16,000 applicants.[4] With around 1.5 percent of applicants accepted to the program, becoming an NBC page is more competitive than gaining admission to Ivy League universities.[5] Past pages describe the interview process as grueling, as the company seeks the best corporate image to present to the public.[6]

Pages regularly get to work on such programs as The Tonight Show and Saturday Night Live. Pages also rotate through assignments in public relations (PR), marketing, development, TV music services, and production in a variety of shows and special projects. Many pages go on to careers with NBC or other broadcast media, and a number have become celebrities or leaders of the industry in their own right.[6]

In popular culture

In the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, produced by former Saturday Night Live head writer Tina Fey, Jack McBrayer portrays a zealous, smiling, do-good NBC page named Kenneth Parcell, who appears as a page through the show's seven seasons despite pages usually only being employed for a year.[2] And while pages are usually in their 20s, it is a running joke on the show that Kenneth is unrealistically old (indeed, that he is immortal) based on his looks. (For example, in Season 5's "When it Rains, it Pours", Kenneth is seen nostalgically packing away a signed photograph of Fred Allen from 1947, dedicated: "Kenneth, you're the TOPS!" into a box marked "NBC Memories 1945-1967".)

The Team Members of the theme park attraction Race Through New York Starring Jimmy Fallon, at Universal Studios Florida, are dressed as NBC pages as part of the theming of the attraction, which is housed in a replica of 30 Rockefeller Plaza, where NBC Studios are located.

Notable NBC pages

Notable former NBC pages include:

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NBCUniversal Page Program NBC Universal Page Program. pageprogram.nbcunicareers.com. en. 2018-05-07.
  2. News: Rose. Lacey. 21 NBC Pages Turned Hollywood Players Tell All: Johnny Carson Sightings, Calls From the President, TV Cameos. April 11, 2018. The Hollywood Reporter. April 17, 2017. en.
  3. News: Radio Chiefs Train Studio Guides For Bigger Posts In Broadcasting. Steinhauser, Si. 8 May 1935. The Pittsburgh Press. 27 November 2010.
  4. Web site: Home | NBCUnicareers. NBCUniversal Careers. 9 December 2014.
  5. News: Life of an NBC page isn't quite like '30 Rock' . The Washington Post . Jenna . Johnson . 2011-05-12.
  6. News: For NBC Pages, 'Please Follow Me' Is a Fervent Wish. Buckley. Cara. October 13, 2008. The New York Times. April 11, 2018.
  7. News: Clay Cole, Host of TeenageDance Shows, dies at 72. The New York Times. 27 December 2010. William. Grimes. 24 December 2010.
  8. Book: Murray. Michael D.. Encyclopedia of television news. 1998. 336. Greenwood. 1-57356-108-8. July 15, 2010.
  9. Barber-Just, Christina, "Live on Today: Sara Haines '00 makes her mark on America's number one morning show", SAQ, Spring 2010, Smith College Alumni Association
  10. Web site: WMMR's Preston and Steve Podcast . Prestonandsteve.libsyn.com . March 7, 2015.
  11. News: Announcer Gene Rayburn. 2003-10-05. American Profile. 2018-11-06. en-US.
  12. Web site: Willard Scott - Weather Reporter and Centenarian. MSNBC. 2004-12-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20041211192233/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6694523/ . live . 2004-12-11 . February 4, 2008.
  13. Web site: The War Room's Michael Shure Dishes On Current TV, Tom Brokaw, And Dan Abrams . Mediaite . 2013-06-24 . 2013-09-03.
  14. News: Lara Spencer and 'The Insider'. Sarah E.. Needleman. . 2009-09-29. . . 0099-9660 . 11 December 2013.
  15. News: Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Star of '77 Sunset Strip' and 'The F.B.I.', Dies at 95 . June 9, 2018 . The New York Times . May 3, 2014.

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