After nearly 40 years of ushering in the New Year, Dick Clark’s annual ball drop and countdown special is still on top. According to Nielsen ratings, ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest was the most-watched NYE special of the night — attracting 8.7 million viewers and up 2% from last year!
Performers like Green Day and Rihanna helped NBC’s New Year’s Eve With Carson Daly garner its largest audience ever. Approximately 3.4 million viewers between 18-49 tuned into the countdown special hosted by the former TRL host. That’s up 13% from the 3.0 that tuned in in 2008.