Senator Andrew Lanza & Governor Cuomo Announce "America's Got Talent" Finds New Home in New York City

Andrew J Lanza

April 3, 2013

Relocation of TV Show to Radio City Music Hall Will Create More Than 500 Jobs and $100 Million in New Economic Activity Each Season in New York

Senator Andrew Lanza and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that NBC’s top-rated summer series “America’s Got Talent” is moving from its current location at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, New Jersey, to Radio City Music Hall, one of the nation’s most storied and historic venues, for its upcoming eighth season. The relocation of the show to New York is estimated to create more than 500 jobs and result in more than $100 million in economic activity each season.

With the relocation of “America’s Got Talent,” it is estimated that visitors to New York in the live studio audience and the show’s contestants will spend about $9.5 million at local businesses.

The show’s move comes on the heels of the recently-passed extension of the State’s popular film and tax credit program. The extension includes new incentives to attract television shows produced in other states to New York to create jobs, spur tourism and generate new spending.

With the rise in movies and television shows filming in New York State, the State is now being billed as “Hollywood East.” It is estimated that the 338 projects that have filmed or applied to the program during the Cuomo administration will result in over $5.2 billion in direct spending in New York.

NBCUniversal also said that while the move was made for creative reasons, it would not have been possible without the assistance provided by the recent extension and enhancement of the New York Film Production Tax Credit.

Radio City Music Hall, which is located in New York's famed Rockefeller Center and opened in 1932, holds nearly 6,000 seats and has long been the home of the world famous Rockettes.

The famed theater, which has been visited by millions of visitors from around the world, is listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It has housed hundreds of events during its 81 years as one of New York's most important landmarks and cultural centers, including many awards shows, the NFL Draft, Cirque du Soleil and several women’s pro basketball games.

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