NBC's Sweet Suburban Home

NBC just announced that they are relocating their digital division to New Jersey. Starting in early 2008, around a thousand employees (also including the stations group operations division) will be moved to a new building on the network's Englewood Cliffs, N.J. campus — currently the home base for CNBC. To appease the staffers, NBC is ratcheting up the amenities, too:

Free ATM and 24/7 Campus Security

Dry Cleaner on premises, Shoe Shine service

Commissary (6:30 am — 7:00 pm), Fed Ex/UPS pick-up

Friday Massages ($1/minute)

Free Gym, Access to Personal Trainers

Flu shots, health screenings, etc

Thursday Car Wash ($20), Bicycle parking

Vending Machines

Free use of town Tennis Courts

COMING SOON to North Building — 26 new meeting spaces

COMING SOON to North Building — Covered patio with outdoor seating

COMING SOON to North Building — New recreation room with a variety of games, flat screen TV, comfortable seating, and a gaming system

XBox 360s aside, given that the bulk of NBC's digital department is on the younger and single side (and thus much less likely to be residing in the suburbs), we can't imagine this move will be too popular with them. NBC is promising a fleet of 18 buses to move employees to and from Manhattan. Maybe the newly relocated employees can make friends with the similarly Englewood Cliffs-based staff of Bauer Magazines?

Maybe not, says a non-too-thrilled Englewood Cliffs-based NBC "insider":

I am glad NBC is so busy trying to make the Jersey facilities sound so homey for those FORCED to work here. The fact is the Englewood Cliffs facilites are UNDER airconditioned, in the middle of nowhere with nary a pizza place in walking distance. The weather here changes by the hour. Sunny in NYC? Great because here it's foggy, rainy, cloudy, bizarre. The sad truth is many people bought homes based on where they would work. Those in south Jersey now are stuck with 2 hour or more commutes to get to the City. And those in the City are now forced to commute to a no man's land in Jersey that more closely resembles a minimum security prison than a TV network. NBC 2.0 THIS!