NBC's centennial has an exhibition at The Paley Museum in Midtown Manhattan, and it is covered by the museum's normal admission rather than a separate ticket. "NBC100: A Century Together" fills three floors at 25 West 52 Street with costumes, props, artifacts and interactive displays from 100 years of NBC radio and television. Entrance times can be booked from 18 September 2026, and the museum is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 12:00 to 6:00 pm.

Three floors between Fifth and Sixth Avenue

The exhibition covers three floors of the museum and moves from NBC's beginnings as a radio pioneer to the shows that defined its television years. The museum names Friends, Seinfeld, Law & Order, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, TODAY, The Golden Girls, ER, The Voice, The Howdy Doody Show, Miami Vice, The West Wing, Saturday Night Live and Parks and Recreation among the landmark shows it brings to life through rare photographs, props, artifacts, costumes and interactive displays.

Subway stops are close by. The E and M lines stop at Fifth Avenue and 53 Street, the N, R and W at 49 Street and Seventh Avenue, and the B, D, F and M at 47-50 Street/Rockefeller Center. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and it also closes on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Costumes, props and photo spots

Seven costumes are named, each worn by a star: Mariska Hargitay on Law & Order: SVU, Matt LeBlanc on Friends, Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Seinfeld, Ted Danson on The Good Place, Barbara Eden on I Dream of Jeannie, Martin Sheen on The West Wing and Steve Carell on The Office. Costumes from Miami Vice, 30 Rock and Will & Grace are on show as well.

Several pieces are built for photographs. Visitors can sit in The Voice's coaches' chair, stand with a larger-than-life statue from The Traitors, look at the desk from The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, take part in an interactive moment on the TODAY set and stand on an Olympic Games victory podium.

More than 75 artifacts come from series including ER, Friends, Friday Night Lights, Parks and Recreation, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Meet the Press, Parenthood, 30 Rock, The Howdy Doody Show and The Sound of Music Live. Vintage radio displays mark the company's origins. TODAY aired a look inside the exhibition with Joe Fryer on 8 October.

Screenings, panels and activities for children

Special screening series in the museum's theaters revisit historical NBC programming and Paley events with the casts of shows including Friends, Seinfeld, Cheers, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, Hill Street Blues, Will & Grace and This Is Us, alongside curated selections from the Paley Archive. The full schedule sits on a separate page from the exhibition listing.

The building holds more than the centennial display. A PaleyGX gaming and virtual reality studio and a library with the Paley Archive are open during museum hours, and the gaming studio closes early at 3:30 pm on 10 October. Younger visitors can make their own version of the NBC Peacock and take part in arts and crafts inspired by the network's programming.

PaleyFest NY 2026 runs from 8 to 14 October at the museum, and the visit page warns that the Bennack Theater's regular schedule may change during the festival. Screening times in the Gillespie Theater also change on several dates in October, and each change is listed on the visit page.

What a ticket costs and what it covers

Admission is $20, or $16 for students, teachers, seniors, first responders and veterans. Children under 12 are free, and Paley members enter free with a guest. The museum recommends buying timed-entry tickets in advance, including for members, and says walk-ups are welcome on a first-come, first-served basis while capacity allows.

One ticket covers the whole museum for the day, and the exhibition has no separate charge. Members enter their member ID or code in the access key field when booking, and anyone who joins as a member on the day of a visit can have the admission cost applied to the membership fee. The museum lists PaleyGX studio admission as free for Individual+ and Family members or higher tiers.

Group tours run Wednesdays to Fridays from 12:00 to 4:00 pm for groups of 10 to 25 people, and the museum recommends reserving about a month ahead. All areas of the museum are wheelchair accessible, assisted listening devices are available at the front desk, and the Paley Archive library holds more than 1,000 television programs with closed captioning. Photography and recording are not allowed in the archive, the building has no dining facilities, and the museum notes that events and participants are subject to change.

The words GENERAL $20 sit beside a simple abstract doorway drawn in flat shapes.
The Paley visit page lists general admission at $20 and $16 for students, teachers, seniors, first responders and veterans; children under 12 and Paley members with a guest enter free. This is a concept illustration, not the museum's ticket or booking page.

How NBC is marking the centennial outside the museum

NBC's first radio broadcast went out on 15 November 1926, which puts the network's 100th anniversary on 15 November 2026. NBC says it is marking the year with retrospectives across its shows and social channels and with coverage on NBC Insider, and its centennial page says more specific details of the anniversary celebrations are still to come.

The next confirmed event is a live, three-hour primetime special on NBC on Thursday, 10 December 2026 from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, according to NBCUniversal's newsroom.

Dates and names the museum has not listed

The exhibition page gives no closing date, so how long the display stays in Midtown is not public. NBCUniversal's announcement does not name the December special's host, performers or guests. Nothing on the museum's pages says whether the exhibition will be extended or travel to another venue, and the pages do not describe how many timed-entry places are released for each slot.