ABC‘s annual “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special brought the network its first big ratings win of the year.
Hosted by Ryan Seacrest for the 20th year in a row, the telecast averaged 17.9 million viewers with a 4.7 rating among adults age 18-49 during Part 1 of its late night portion, which aired from 11:30 p.m. to 12:29 a.m. Viewership peaked during the midnight quarter-hour, reaching a total of 21.5 million and an 18-49 rating of 5.7. (All viewership data is measured by Nielsen.)
Those stats put ABC well above its competitors on New Year’s Eve. The special was the No. 1 program of the night, with CBS’ “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash” hitting 6.9 million viewers during late night Part 1 and NBC’s “Day Drinking with Seth Meyers” reaching 1.5 million compared to ABC’s 17.9 million. Additionally, the late4 night portion brought ABC its most-watched entertainment telecast since the 2024 Oscars and its most-watched non-sports telecast since the September 2024 presidential debate.
And even though viewership during the primetime portion of the night was lower than when the clock struck midnight, “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” still beat out the competition from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Part 1 (from 8 to 10 p.m.) averaged 6.2 million viewers with a 1.5 rating compared to CBS’ 4.9 million viewers and 0.7 rating, with Part 2 (10:30 to 11:30 p.m.) rising to 9.5 million viewers and a 2.4 rating compared to CBS’ 5.7 million viewers and 1.1 rating.
On cable, the No. 1 holiday program was “New Year’s Eve Live” on CNN, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. Airing from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., the special averaged 1.9 million viewers, peaking with 3.7 million viewers when the ball dropped at midnight — its best performance since 2021. ESPN’s coverage of college football was the only cable programming to beat “New Year’s Eve Live” on Tuesday, and at midnight, no cable network had more viewers than CNN.
