As is often the case, the ultimate evening of the 12 months was additionally one of many greatest TV viewing nights of 2025 — and likewise per typical, the most important share of that viewing got here on ABC.
The community’s annual Dick Clark’s New Yr’s Rockin’ Eve particular averaged 18.8 million viewers within the 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. ET hour on Dec. 31/Jan. 1, in accordance with early Nielsen rankings (which don’t embody the measurement service’s massive information part). That’s a four-year excessive and a 5 p.c enchancment on the earlier 12 months’s common of 17.92 million, pending updates. ABC estimates that 30 million folks have been tuned to the community at midnight ET, and the total evening of festivities had some 34 million folks watching at the very least a couple of minutes of New Yr’s Rockin’ Eve (the latter determine doesn’t embody out of dwelling viewing).
The 18.8 million viewers for ABC made up a big majority of viewers within the hour surrounding the beginning of the 12 months on the East Coast. New Yr’s Eve Dwell drew 5.3 million viewers on CBS from 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., whereas specials on CNN and NBC got here in behind that. Hourly totals for the latter two weren’t accessible at publication time, however CNN averaged 2.6 million viewers from 8 p.m.-12:30 a.m. for its New Yr’s Eve particular hosted Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. NBC had 2.13 million viewers from 10:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. for A Toast to 2025; each exhibits doubtless got here in considerably larger of their closing hours.
ABC additionally dominated primetime — drawing 7.03 million viewers from 8-10 p.m. and 10.59 million from 10:30-11:30 p.m. — and the late-late evening phase (8.25 million from 12:30-2 a.m.), based mostly on the early Nielsen figures. All 4 elements of New Yr’s Rockin’ Eve grew 12 months to 12 months, with the 12:30 a.m. portion scoring an 85 p.c achieve.
CBS averaged 3.9 million viewers from 8-10 p.m. and 4.88 million from 10:30-11:30; the community’s primetime and late-night segments all declined 12 months to 12 months. CNN’s full evening improved by 38 p.c from 2024. NBC sat out the late evening New Yr’s Eve sport final 12 months.
Remaining rankings for New Yr’s Eve programming will likely be added to this story as they grow to be accessible.
New Yr’s Rockin’ Eve is produced by Dick Clark Productions, which is owned by Penske Media Company, The Hollywood Reporter’s mother or father firm, in a subsidiary three way partnership between Penske Media and Eldridge.