Studio 8H in 30 Rockefeller Center was bustling again last night, even though SNL writers are still on the picket line. Instead, an NBC holiday party took over the space, featuring many of the faces of the network. NBCU President Jeff Zucker took the mic midway through the party to address the crowd, joking that because of the WGA strike, the party was being recorded and would be part of NBC’s new reality programming in January.
Zucker also touched on the recent success of NBC Nightly News, the cable channels (“both news and entertainment”) and the longstanding success of the Today show.
Brian Williams, Lester Holt and division president Steve Capus were in attendance representing NBC News. MSNBC had Keith Olbermann, Dan Abrams, Joe Scarborough and Amy Robach while Carl Quintanilla, Maria Bartiromo, Erin Burnett and Joe Kernen made the trip across the river from CNBC.
Hoda Kotb was there from the Today show, although the event was competing with Al Roker‘s Christmas party, which drew the Today show personalities (except Natalie Morales, who was en route to Omaha, NE). Even Masi Oka from the NBC hit Heroes was spotted.
The mood was light and festive. CNBC’s Dylan Ratigan was overheard reflecting on his YouTube-famous exchange with an S&P analyst while Zucker stayed to chat well after the official end time.