Brian Williams' NBC newsmagazine gets questionable 'Rock Center' title

NBC News and Brian Williams perhaps anticipated the fact that the name of their new prime-time newsmagazine wouldn't be especially well-received. Because it's rare you see a network joke about one of its show titles in the press release announcing the name.

That name: "Rock Center with Brian Williams," which refers to NBC's New York headquarters but conjures up images of A) a music-centric version of "SportsCenter" or B) "30 Rock," on which Williams has appeared several times.

"Hopefully our journalism will speak louder than any name," Williams says in the release. "If it doesn't, perhaps people will tune in to 'Rock Center' hoping to see Tina Fey."

(Actually, he should be hoping for more people than tune in to see Tina Fey; "30 Rock" averaged a mild 5.1 million viewers last season.)

Uninspired name or no, the live, weekly show will be led by Williams and feature contributions from former CBS News host Harry Smith, Kate Snow and other NBC News correspondents. It will feature reported pieces, interviews and other stories built around the biggest events of that week. A premiere date hasn't been set.