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Corporate

NBC and TODAY Celebrate 80 Years of Page Program

The year-long program, which began in 1933, provides a unique work experience within the media industry and, over the years, has produced several current company leaders. The prestigious and highly competitive program was featured in an Aug. 25 segment of TODAY, with anchors Lester Holt and Erica Hill becoming pages for a day.

These days, the words "NBC page" conjure up images of cheerful "30 Rock" character Kenneth Parcell.

While Parcell may have made a name for the NBC Page Program in prime time, pages have been a crucial part of NBC since 1933. The program has graduated distinguished alumni including TV personality Regis Philbin, actress Aubrey Plaza, former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, NBC News’ Ted Koppel and TODAY’s own Willard Scott.

This year, the program is celebrating its 80th anniversary with a brand new look for its pages. Starting in January 2014, pages will be giving tours and greeting guests in suits from Cintas instead of the gray Brooks Brothers’ suits with white blouse and polished black shoes.

This was an upgrade from the blue and gray polyester uniforms pages wore in the '90s. Every few years, the uniforms get revamped — they last received a style update in 2008 for the 75th anniversary, when new uniforms were chosen through a vote on TODAY.com.

There’s a reason, besides the buttoned-up attire, that the program receives about 16,000 applications each year and accepts less than two percent —making it more difficult to get into than Harvard. The industry renowned program is a prestigious and highly competitive, post graduate program that provides opportunities to transition into entry-level positions at NBCUniversal.

For more on NBC's Page Program, visit www.nbcunicareers.com/page-program

(TODAY contributor Lisa Granshaw contributed to this story)