the 1992 United States elections. Late Show use Late Show with David Letterman In January 1993, after David Letterman switched to CBS from NBC, he considered taping his new Late Show with David Letterman in either Los Angeles or New York City. CBS looked at 15 theaters in New York City before buying the Ed Sullivan Theater from Winthrop Financial Associates for $4.5 million in February. Niles's Dreamtime was given four weeks to vacate, but Dreamtime closed instead because of the high cost of relocating. The rapid sale earned its broker the Henry Hart Rice Achievement Award for the Most Ingenious Deal of the Year for 1993. Polshek Partnership was hired to renovate the theater, while HRH Construction managed the project. In addition, Letterman's production company Worldwide Pants was to have its offices in the theater's office building. Two hundred workers worked for twelve weeks to reconfigure the theater. To speed up approvals for the renovation, Polshek agreed to design all the modifications so they could be reversed later. Five concave sound-insulation shells were hung from an elliptical ring below the dome, concealing air-conditioning systems that kept the temperature at . Acoustic baffles were installed along the rear of the auditorium to give it an "intimate" feel, and the number of seats was reduced from 1,265 to 400. CBS removed the stained-glass windows and placed them in storage, covering the window openings with acoustic material. Since the existing interior was decayed, much of the existing plasterwork was restored or replaced. Part of the balcony railing was replaced with fiberglass, and a control room from the Ed Sullivan era was also relocated. The Late Show premiered at the Ed Sullivan Theater on August 30, 1993. The premiere of the Late Show led to a revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood, but this led to businesses being relocated or displaced due to high rents. For example, CBS evicted McGee's Pub from the Broadway storefront in 1994; the pub was replaced by a Late Show-themed restaurant that closed two years after opening. The Ed Sullivan Theater was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. CBS began moving HD production equipment into the Sullivan's control room in mid-2003, but a full HD upgrade was delayed due to the layout of the theater. Ultimately, the Sullivan was refitted with cabling and equipment to broadcast HDTV in mid-2005. In the early 21st century, during