How and When to Watch the New 30 Rock Special

The past few months have seen an interesting influx of television reunions and revivals, in part due to the ever-evolving circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the latest shows to join the trend is NBC‘s 30 Rock, which will be debuting an hour-long reunion special tonight, Thursday, July 16th. If you want to make sure you’re able to watch the special, there actually several ways to do so — but they might be complicated, depending on where you live. The special will air on Thursday, July 16th at 8/7c on NBC, but that will not be the case in every market. TV-station groups Tegna, Gray Television, Nexstar, Hearst, and Sinclair Broadcasting group are planning to not air the special on their NBC affiliates — so if your local NBC station is owned by any of these companies (which is reportedly the case for at least half of the country), you won’t be able to see it as it’s initially airing. If you live in the markets with NBC-owned stations, including New York and Los Angeles, you will be able to watch the special as planned.

The boycott is reportedly due to the content of the special itself, which technically doubles as a de-facto upfronts presentation for NBCUniversal, and will heavily focus on promoting the newly-launched Peacock streaming service. Station owners are reportedly worried about how Peacock – which offers both a free and an ad-supported tier – will impact linear viewership on NBC affiliates, which is why they will not be airing the special.

If you aren’t able to catch it on Thursday night – either through your geographical location or just missing it altogether – it will be rebroadcast the following night, Friday, July 17th, at 9/8c. This rebroadcast will happen across NBCUniversal’s slate of channels, including USA Network, Bravo, E!, Oxygen, SYFY, and CNBC. It will also be available to stream on NBC.com, VOD platforms, and the aforementioned Peacock.

The special will feature the return of 30 Rock cast members Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin, Tracy Morgan, Jane Krakowski, Jack McBrayer, and more. It will also feature guest appearances from talent across NBCUniversal’s slate of programming, which includes NBC, Telemundo, USA Network, SYFY, E!, and Bravo.

“We’re all happy to have this excuse to (remotely) work together again for NBC,” Fey and Robert Carlock said in a joint statement. “To quote Kenneth the Page, there are only two things we love in this world, television and everyone.”

“At NBCUniversal, we’re excited to produce an upfront that reflects a new reality and celebrates our relationship with viewers and advertisers alike,” Linda Yaccarino, chairman, advertising and partnerships, NBCUniversal, said In a statement. “Historically, this event is about the future of programming; this year, it’s about the future of our industry — a future where we can meet audiences wherever they are, with the stories that move them.”

Are you excited for the 30 Rock reunion special? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!