25 Iconic Talk Shows Broadcast From New York City

The Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, longtime home of CBS late-night television. Photo: Danny Bakker / Shutterstock

New York City has been one of the great centers of American talk television from the earliest days of network broadcasting. The city’s studios helped shape late-night television, morning news-and-talk programs, daytime interviews, political and cultural discussion, celebrity conversation, comedy, and syndicated talk. From Rockefeller Center and the Ed Sullivan Theater to Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Times Square, and Hudson Square, generations of hosts have built national programs in front of New York studio audiences.

For this list, “talk shows” is used broadly to include traditional interview programs, late-night comedy talk, morning news-and-talk shows, panel programs, and host-driven satirical news programs built around conversation and commentary. Every entry had a substantial period of regular production in New York City. Shows that only taped occasional specials in New York are not included.

The list is arranged chronologically by the beginning of each show’s run or New York era rather than as a ranking.

1. Today (1952–Present)

• New York Studio: NBC’s Studio 1A at Rockefeller Plaza, Midtown Manhattan, since 1994, following earlier New York studio homes.
• New York Television History: Created by NBC executive Pat Weaver and first hosted by Dave Garroway, Today helped establish the modern morning television format by mixing news, interviews, weather, entertainment, and conversation. The current street-level Studio 1A opened in 1994, restoring the program’s “window on the world” concept and making crowds on Rockefeller Plaza part of the broadcast.

2. The Tonight Show Starring Steve Allen (1954–1957)

• New York Studio: The Hudson Theatre on West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan.
• New York Television History: Steve Allen’s Tonight established much of the vocabulary of late-night television: monologues, desk conversation, musical performances, comedy sketches, celebrity interviews, and street pieces. The national NBC program grew out of Allen’s earlier local New York late-night show and was broadcast from the Hudson Theatre in the heart of the theater district.

3. The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (New York Era: 1962–1972)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Johnny Carson began his three-decade run as host in New York, with Ed McMahon beside him and the NBC orchestra nearby. Before the show moved permanently to Burbank in 1972, Carson spent roughly his first decade at 30 Rock refining the monologue, desk interview, comedy character, and celebrity couch format that became identified with The Tonight Show.

4. The Dick Cavett Show (New York Runs: 1968–1986)

• New York Studio: Various Manhattan facilities during Cavett’s runs on ABC, PBS, and USA, including the Elysee Theatre on West 58th Street.
• New York Television History: Dick Cavett built his reputation around long-form conversation rather than rapid celebrity promotion. His New York programs featured writers, actors, musicians, artists, political figures, and intellectuals in extended interviews that allowed disagreement and discussion to develop without the pace of a conventional variety show.

5. Good Morning America (1975–Present)

• New York Studio: Studio C at the Robert A. Iger Building in Hudson Square since June 2025. From 1999 through June 2025, the program broadcast from its glass-walled Times Square studio.
• New York Television History: ABC’s morning program developed its own blend of news, interviews, entertainment, consumer reporting, weather, and live events. Its 26-year Times Square era made the surrounding sidewalks and Broadway crowds part of the show. In 2025, Good Morning America moved downtown to Disney’s new Hudson Square complex while remaining firmly based in Manhattan.

6. Late Night with David Letterman (1982–1993)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Following The Tonight Show at 12:30 a.m., David Letterman turned the NBC late-night slot into a showcase for absurd comedy, unconventional interviews, viewer mail, Stupid Pet Tricks, the Top Ten List, and pieces that frequently spilled out onto the streets of Manhattan. The program’s New York surroundings were an active part of its comic identity.

7. Donahue (New York Era: 1985–1996)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Phil Donahue had already established the audience-participation talk format before moving his production from Chicago to New York in 1985. At Studio 8G, Donahue continued roaming through the audience with a microphone while hosting discussions on social, cultural, medical, and public-policy subjects. The New York move placed the program closer to national media, publishing, theater, and public-affairs guests.

8. Geraldo (1987–1998)

• New York Studio: CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street in Manhattan.
• New York Television History: Geraldo Rivera’s syndicated daytime program combined interviews, confrontational studio discussions, investigations, celebrity stories, and tabloid subjects. One of its best-known broadcasts occurred during a 1988 studio confrontation involving white supremacists and civil-rights activists in which Rivera suffered a broken nose.

9. Live with Kelly and Mark and Its Earlier Incarnations (1988–Present)

• New York Studio: 7 Hudson Square since April 2025. The nationally syndicated program spent nearly four decades at 7 Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side before moving downtown.
• New York Television History: The national version began as Live! with Regis and Kathie Lee in 1988, growing out of WABC’s local The Morning Show. Regis Philbin, Kathie Lee Gifford, Kelly Ripa, and later Mark Consuelos made unscripted opening host chat a defining feature, frequently turning ordinary New York experiences, traffic, restaurants, weather, theater, and neighborhood life into morning conversation.

10. The Joan Rivers Show (1989–1993)

• New York Studio: Produced in New York City for national syndication.
• New York Television History: Joan Rivers returned to daytime television with a daily interview program built around celebrity conversation, topical discussion, comedy, and her rapid-fire interviewing style. Rivers won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 1990, and the program became an important New York chapter in her career after her earlier late-night television work.

11. The Montel Williams Show (1991–2008)

• New York Studio: Primarily Unitel Studios at 433 West 53rd Street in Manhattan.
• New York Television History: Hosted by former naval officer Montel Williams, the syndicated daytime show combined personal stories, family conflicts, interviews, and issue-based episodes. Most of its long run was taped in Manhattan, placing it squarely within the competitive New York daytime talk-show industry of the 1990s and 2000s.

12. Maury (New York Era: 1991–2009)

• New York Studio: New York facilities including Chelsea Studios and the Hotel Pennsylvania complex before the production moved to Stamford, Connecticut, for the 2009–10 season.
• New York Television History: The program began as The Maury Povich Show and evolved over its New York years from a conventional daytime talk format into the high-drama style later associated with Maury. Paternity-test episodes, family disputes, and audience reactions eventually became central to its identity. The show’s move to Connecticut in 2009 ended its long New York production era.

13. Charlie Rose (1991–2017)

• New York Studio: WNET and later Bloomberg Television facilities at 731 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan.
• New York Television History: Charlie Rose used a minimalist table-and-black-background setting for long interviews with authors, filmmakers, scientists, business leaders, public officials, artists, and other newsmakers. Distribution of the program ended in November 2017 after multiple women accused Rose of sexual harassment and PBS, Bloomberg, and CBS ended their relationships with him.

14. Late Night with Conan O’Brien (1993–2009)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 6A at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Conan O’Brien took over NBC’s post-midnight franchise after David Letterman left the network. Along with Andy Richter and the Max Weinberg 7, O’Brien built a distinctive mix of interviews, sketches, recurring characters, field pieces, and deliberately absurd comedy from Studio 6A. The New York run lasted more than fifteen years before O’Brien moved west to host The Tonight Show.

15. Late Show with David Letterman (1993–2015)

• New York Studio: Ed Sullivan Theater, 1697 Broadway.
• New York Television History: When Letterman moved from NBC to CBS, the historic Ed Sullivan Theater became the program’s permanent home. The show regularly used the surrounding Broadway neighborhood for comedy, stunts, remote pieces, and recurring appearances by nearby businesses, including Rupert Jee’s Hello Deli. The theater and block became inseparable from Letterman’s CBS years.

16. The Rosie O’Donnell Show (1996–2002)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Rosie O’Donnell’s daytime variety talk show combined celebrity interviews, comedy, games, music, and frequent Broadway performances. Produced from Rockefeller Center, the show maintained an especially strong connection to New York theater and regularly brought Broadway casts onto national daytime television.

17. The Daily Show (1996–Present)

• New York Studio: Currently at 733 11th Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen.
• New York Television History: Created as a parody of television news, The Daily Show evolved through the Craig Kilborn, Jon Stewart, and Trevor Noah eras into a host-driven satire program built around monologues, correspondent pieces, interviews, and commentary on news and public affairs. In 2026, Jon Stewart continues to host Monday editions while members of the show’s news team host other nights.

18. The View (1997–Present)

• New York Studio: 7 Hudson Square since 2024, after decades at ABC’s Upper West Side facilities.
• New York Television History: Created by Barbara Walters, The View built its format around a panel of women discussing current events, culture, entertainment, and public affairs before moving into guest interviews. Over the years the program has hosted entertainers, authors, candidates, officeholders, and other public figures. Its move to Hudson Square placed it inside Disney’s new Manhattan production complex.

19. The Colbert Report (2005–2014)

• New York Studio: NEP Studio 54 at 513 West 54th Street in Hell’s Kitchen.
• New York Television History: Stephen Colbert hosted the program in character as an exaggerated cable-news pundit, using interviews and satire to parody personality-driven political commentary. The show was taped four nights a week in a small Manhattan studio and became a major companion program to The Daily Show.

20. Rachael Ray (2006–2023)

• New York Studio: Chelsea Television Studios on West 26th Street for much of its run.
• New York Television History: Rachael Ray’s syndicated daytime program blended celebrity interviews, cooking, lifestyle advice, makeovers, games, and audience interaction. The show ran for 17 seasons and became one of the longest-running New York-produced daytime talk programs of its era.

21. The Wendy Williams Show (2008–2022)

• New York Studio: Chelsea Television Studios on West 26th Street.
• New York Television History: After years in New York radio, Wendy Williams brought her celebrity-news style to daytime television. Her opening “Hot Topics” segment, audience interaction, interviews, and catchphrases gave the syndicated program a strong New York personality throughout its run from Chelsea.

22. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014–Present)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Jimmy Fallon’s move to The Tonight Show in 2014 returned the franchise to New York after 42 years in California. Studio 6B, which had housed Johnny Carson’s New York Tonight Show, was renovated for the new production. Fallon and The Roots have continued the franchise from Rockefeller Center with interviews, games, comedy, and musical performances.

23. Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014–Present)

• New York Studio: NBC Studio 8G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza.
• New York Television History: Seth Meyers moved from Saturday Night Live to NBC’s long-running Late Night franchise in 2014. The program combines guest interviews, comedy, and topical commentary, including the recurring “A Closer Look” segment, while continuing the decades-long tradition of NBC late-night television originating from Rockefeller Center.

24. Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014–Present)

• New York Studio: CBS Broadcast Center on West 57th Street.
• New York Television History: John Oliver’s weekly HBO program uses a host-at-desk format built around comedy, current events, and extended explanatory segments rather than a traditional nightly guest structure. The program continues to tape before a New York studio audience at the CBS Broadcast Center.

25. The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015–2026)

• New York Studio: Ed Sullivan Theater, 1697 Broadway.
• New York Television History: Stephen Colbert succeeded David Letterman at the Ed Sullivan Theater in 2015, hosting celebrity interviews, comedy, musical performances, and topical monologues from the Broadway landmark. The program aired its final episode on May 21, 2026, when CBS retired The Late Show franchise after 33 years spanning the Letterman and Colbert eras.

Quick Reference: 25 Talk Shows Broadcast From New York City

Readers interested in more New York television and entertainment history can continue with our History of NBC Studios at Rockefeller Plaza, History of the Ed Sullivan Theater, A Spectacular Visit to the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York, and History of Times Square in New York City.