| Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest | |
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December 2006 photograph of Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest |
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| Also known as |
Main show New Year's Rockin' Eve Primetime (2010–present) |
| Format | New Year's television special |
| Created by | Dick Clark |
| Presented by | Dick Clark Ryan Seacrest Fergie Jenny McCarthy |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Production | |
| Running time | (Primetime, 10:00–11:00 p.m.) 60 minutes (Part One, 11:35 p.m.–1:05 a.m.) 90 minutes (Part Two, 1:05–2:05 a.m.) 60 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Dick Clark Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC (December 31, 1972 – December 31, 1973) ABC (December 31, 1974–December 31, 1998; December 31, 2000–present) |
| Original airing | December 31, 1972 – present |
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (formerly Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve) is a television program that airs every New Year's Eve on ABC. It has been hosted by Dick Clark since its first airing on Sunday, December 31, 1972. Ryan Seacrest has been the program's co-host since the December 31, 2005 telecast. The show features performances from various contemporary artists, as well as coverage of the dropping of the Times Square Ball in New York City's Times Square. The program airs live in the Eastern Time Zone, and then on tape delay in the other areas of the United States so that the show is correlated to when midnight strikes in the other respective time zones.
Since December 31, 2000, a pre-show of New Year's Rockin' Eve has aired in primetime, featuring additional musical performances and live updates from Times Square.
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The program has typically consisted of live coverage of New Year's Eve festivities in Times Square, climaxing with its long-running ball drop, along with live musical performances on location by popular artists (which are exclusive to the broadcast). Since 2005, Ryan Seacrest has hosted the live show outside in Times Square itself (along with a celebrity correspondent providing additional reports from the crowds), while Dick Clark co-hosts and makes appearances from the Times Square Studios.
Since the 2000/2001 edition, coverage has begun with New Year's Rockin' Eve Primetime, an hour-long pre-show aired at 10:00 PM ET containing additional performances, reports and retrospectives. Following the Primetime show, coverage continues at 11:35 PM ET/PT after local programming (such as late local newscasts) from ABC's affiliates. To allow the new year's countdown to correspond with the local station's time zone, the second half is usually Tape delayed by either local affiliates (especially in the Central and Mountain time zones) or by ABC's west coast feed so that the show continues at 11:35 PM local time. When the Ball Drop occurs at 11:59 PM (which has traditionally been accompanied by Dick Clark welcoming the new year), some stations may also air split screen coverage of a local new year's event (such as the Buffalo Ball Drop or Atlanta's Peach Drop).
Following the Ball Drop, the show continues on to "Part 2", which consists of concert segments recorded on the West Coast in Hollywood (except in the 2009/2010 edition, which was held at America's Party in Las Vegas, Nevada). Since the 2006/2007 edition, these concert segments have been hosted by Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson of The Black Eyed Peas. New Year's Rockin' Eve has aired every year on ABC since 1974, except in 2000, where the show was put on hiatus in favor of ABC News' day-long special, ABC 2000 Today, which featured celebrations from around the world, including Times Square. However, Dick Clark still contributed to the program with a role similar to what he had done on New Year's Rockin' Eve.
In terms of years on air, Clark's string of being the permanent host of the series, 38 years, is the second-longest of any host of an American entertainment television program, behind only Jerry Lewis, who has hosted his eponymous telethon from 1966 through 2010. Both Lewis and Clark are ahead of Don McNeill and Bob Barker, both of whom lasted 35 years. (Though Don Francisco has spent 49 years as host of Sábado Gigante, that show has only been based in the United States for 25 of those years.) However, Barker and McNeill hosted daily programs, not annual shows as Lewis and Clark have.
Before Dick Clark, the best-known New Year's Eve shows on radio and then television were hosted by bandleader Guy Lombardo, who hosted 21 consecutive New Year's Eve shows from 1956 to 1976 on CBS, and for a time in syndication. Lombardo's first radio broadcast on New Year's Eve was heard on December 31, 1928 over CBS Radio, and for a time he even split hosting duties by broadcasting on CBS Radio before midnight EST and on NBC Radio after midnight. Lombardo would host 48 straight New Year's Eve broadcasts until his death in 1977, and famously performed "Auld Lang Syne" by his Royal Canadians as the clock struck midnight, ushering in the start of a New Year.[2][3]
Once the Lombardo orchestra began their annual television shows, there would be a live segment from Times Square, which was (and still is) the focal point of the nation's largest New Year's celebration. In the early years of Lombardo's television specials, pioneer broadcast journalist Robert Trout reported on and counted down to Midnight in New York's Times Square; but for most of Lombardo's years on television, another legendary newsman, Ben Grauer, had the honor.
The first New Year's Eve special on television was broadcast on December 31, 1941 on WNBT New York, and consisted of entertainment broadcast from the Rainbow Room, atop the RCA Building in New York's Rockefeller Center.[4]
Due to World War II, there would be no more New Year's Eve specials on television until December 31, 1945. WNBT produced a remote broadcast of festivities in Times Square. While NBC had begun to feed programs to WRGB in the Albany area and WPTZ in Philadelphia, information is unavailable as to whether either or both of these stations broadcast the program, or if it was seen just locally in New York.[5]
Unless New Year's Eve fell on a weekend, NBC would carry a special New Year's version of The Tonight Show each year beginning in 1954, including coverage of the arrival of the New Year in Times Square.
Dick Clark himself had actually emceed one New Year's Eve TV special prior to 1972; on December 31, 1959, he emceed a 90-minute New Year's special on ABC from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. EST.
By the 1970s, Lombardo's big band music skewed to an older generation, so Dick Clark started his telecast in 1972 to compete. In 2001, Clark recalled how he let everyone know his special was going to have a different approach:
| “ | Guy was the only choice for the older generation. That's why we put Rockin' in the title. It wasn't the Waldorf-Astoria with the people dancing cheek-to-jowl in their tuxedos and funny hats. | ” |
The first show, Three Dog Night's Year's Rockin' Eve 1973, on NBC, was hosted by Three Dog Night and also featured Blood, Sweat & Tears, Helen Reddy and Al Green.
The musical segments for the first Rockin' Eve were pre-taped in the main ballroom on board the Queen Mary, which had been moved to Long Beach, California after three decades of trans-Atlantic service for the Cunard Line in 1967, extensively remodeled, and had reopened as a hotel in 1971. This pattern continues to the present day: Most of the musical segments are taped in a studio in advance, while the segments from Times Square are telecast live.
The second show, New Year's Rockin' Eve 1974, also on NBC, was hosted by comedian George Carlin and featured The Pointer Sisters, Billy Preston, Linda Ronstadt and Tower Of Power. Beginning on the 1975 edition, the program moved to ABC. Almost immediately, Rockin' Eve attracted younger viewers who preferred the contemporary rock and pop music featured on the show as opposed to the big-band music featured on the Lombardo show.
By the 1980s, with Lombardo deceased and the Lombardo orchestra (which continued to perform with other conductors) no longer appearing over network television on New Year's Eve, and CBS continuing their own shows without them until 1995-96, Rockin' Eve became the dominant New Year's Eve television program; it routinely attracts millions of viewers, many of whom watch while with families and friends at New Year's "house parties" across the country.
For coverage of the year 2000, New Year's Rockin' Eve was not broadcast as normal. Instead, ABC presented a day-long telecast known as ABC 2000 Today, which as a part of a major broadcast consortium, televised New Year's Eve celebrations from around the world. Dick Clark would join overall host Peter Jennings and correspondent Jack Ford in covering festivities from Times Square, and providing his traditional countdown alongside Ford at midnight on the east coast. While Clark's role in the broadcast was similar to his role on New Year's Rockin' Eve, the show was also broadcast live across the entire country instead of tape-delayed for other time zones, as ABC 2000 Today covered midnight festivities in other cities for the remainder of the night, as they had done throughout the day. However, shortly after the countdown, ABC replayed it, but with the commentary as seen in the United Kingdom on the BBC's telecast.[6]
Clark, Ford, and Jennings were among a total of more than 1,000 news reporters, technicians, and other news department personnel ABC had as part of the broadcast. They were all under the direction of ABC's Roger Goodman.[7]
Despite his limited role in the coverage, the ABC 2000 Today coverage overall also received a Peabody Award.[8]
On December 6, 2004, it was reported that Clark had been hospitalized after suffering from a minor stroke. While Clark had stated in a prepared statement that he would host the program for its 2004-05 edition, reports soon surfaced that the stroke may have been serious enough to prevent him from hosting.[9] Soon afterward on December 14, it was officially announced that Dick Clark would not be hosting New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005, and that Regis Philbin would instead fill in for him. In a statement, Clark said that he was thankful that Regis was able to quickly step in on short notice to host the show, and hoping that he would do a good job.[10]
Both celebrities and revelers in Times Square paid tribute to Dick Clark during the celebration; celebrity messages during the New Year's Rockin' Eve telecast were directed to Clark, and many revelers were also seen in the Times Square crowd with signs saluting Dick Clark. During CNN's coverage, revelers in Times Square told CNN's Jason Carroll that Philbin was "all right" filling in for Clark, though they had Anderson Cooper and Carroll.[11] Mayor Michael Bloomberg also spoke with Regis on Dick Clark's absence during the show, saying that "it isn't that we don't like Regis, but we want [Dick] back next year."[12]
After the broadcast, the New York Daily News's Richard Huff critiqued Regis Philbin's "suitable — although not spectacular" performance as being outside his usual element; starting off stiff, but slowly becoming looser and more confident in his role throughout the night. Ruff also believed that Philbin would have performed better if had an in-studio co-host to interact with as with his daytime talk show Live! with Regis and Kelly.[12]
In August 2005, it was announced that Dick Clark would return to the show for its 2006 edition, along with a new co-host, television personality Ryan Seacrest, who will serve as the primary host for the show. The 2006 edition of New Year's Rockin' Eve would mark his first television appearance since the stroke the previous year.[13] In an interview with People Magazine in December 2005, Seacrest revealed that while Clark had not completely recovered from the stroke, and that his speech was not exactly like how it was beforehand, Clark had made great progress since the original diagnosis.[14] Clark and Seacrest would be joined by pop singer Hilary Duff to host the Hollywood segments of the program.[15]
During the program, Dick Clark made limited on-air appearances, but still conducted his traditional countdown, and also recollected on his recent experiences:
| “ | Last year I had a stroke. It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there.[16] | ” |
Dick Clark's return to the show was a ratings success for ABC, bringing in 20 million viewers throughout the night and a 7.1 audience share in the key demographic of 18-49 year olds. Network executives believed that public curiosity over Dick Clark's condition was what triggered the high viewership for the special, and additionally confirmed that Ryan Seacrest would return the following year as well.[17]
Reaction to Clark's appearance was mixed. While some TV critics (including Tom Shales of The Washington Post, in an interview with the CBS Radio Network) felt he was not in good enough shape to do the broadcast, stroke survivors and many of Clark's fans praised the MC for being a role model for people dealing with post-stroke recovery.[18]
For the Sunday, December 31, 2006 show leading into Monday, January 1, 2007, Christina Aguilera performed "Candyman", which was a track from her newest album, and her 2003 single "Fighter" live in Times Square moments before midnight. RBD performed three songs, "Tu amor", "Wanna Play", and "Ser o parecer". It was the first time a Spanish-speaking group performed a song in Spanish on the broadcast. Meat Loaf also performed a shortened version of his song "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" with Aspen Miller (who has been signed to be the lead female singer on his "Bat out of Hell III" tour.)
Dick Clark returned to hosting the show once again, the second time after recovering from his stroke. At first, Clark's countdown was again slightly off from the actual time, but by 11:59:55 p.m., he had lined himself up, forcing himself to skip the number 10 in order to keep up with the actual time in the last seconds. Shortly after midnight, Clark was seen in a heartfelt moment with host Ryan Seacrest, as Seacrest thanked him for his commitment to the show over the years and his continued willingness to be a part of the event. After that, they went on to share a few jokes, and then Seacrest picked up hosting duties for the remainder of the show.
Afterwards, Rihanna hosted the remainder of the events in New York, while Fergie hosted the (pre-taped) portion originating from Hollywood.
For Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2008, the Monday, December 31, 2007 show leading into 2008, Ryan Seacrest remained co-host along with Dick Clark, whose voice had improved greatly since the previous year. This was Clark's third year back on the broadcast after his stroke. Fergie again hosted the west coast party in Hollywood. During the ball drop at midnight, Clark remained on time throughout the countdown, although he skipped :01 in order to be on time. After midnight, Ryan Seacrest joined Clark in the studio for another moment (as with the past few years) in which Clark and Seacrest thanked each other for their commitment to the event. After that, Seacrest was handed hosting duties until 1 a.m. Eastern time. After 1 a.m., Fergie was handed hosting duty. Jordin Sparks sang her song, "Tattoo" on the Times Square stage.
Miley Cyrus was next up. She sang her songs "Start All Over" and "G.N.O. (Girl's Night Out)". Later, she also sang one of her Hannah Montana songs, "We Got the Party" as a duet with the Jonas Brothers. The Jonas Brothers performed their singles "Hold On" and "SOS". Carrie Underwood was the main performer and sang a medley of "Flat On The Floor", "All-American Girl", and "Before He Cheats".
At the Hollywood party singers Plain White T's, Fergie, Sean Kingston, Natasha Bedingfield, Taylor Swift, will.i.am, and OneRepublic performed songs.
The Wednesday, December 31, 2008 show leading into Thursday, January 1, 2009 introduced a slight name change to reflect both hosts of the show—Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2009 with Ryan Seacrest.[1]
Kellie Pickler served as Ryan Seacrest's correspondent for the majority of the show, replacing Marysol Castro. The Jonas Brothers, Jesse McCartney, Taylor Swift, and the Pussycat Dolls performed again. Former President Bill Clinton and Senator and Secretary of State-to be Hillary Rodham Clinton officiated the dropping of the ball.
Clark's role in this edition was significantly expanded; in the previous years since his stroke he had only hosted one segment in addition to the countdown, but for 2008-09, Clark split the time roughly evenly between himself and Seacrest during the half-hour leading up to the ball drop. However, like in previous years, Clark mostly disappeared after midnight, ceding duties to Seacrest and Fergie, and did not appear at all during the prime time broadcast.
For the first time, the pre-taped musical segments for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2010 originated from America's Party in Las Vegas; musical guests in the segments taped there included The Black Eyed Peas, Colbie Caillat, Robin Thicke, Keri Hilson, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, David Guetta, and Orianthi. Once more, Fergie served as hostess for these pre-taped music segments.[19]
Jennifer Lopez and Daughtry performed live in Times Square during the special, while Good Morning America's Melissa Rycroft reported on festivities there.[19]
On December 2, 2009, American Idol 8 runner-up Adam Lambert issued a statement claiming he had been booked to appear but that the booking was canceled under pressure from ABC after his controversial performance at the 2009 American Music Awards. Neither ABC nor Dick Clark Productions ever confirmed whether or not Lambert had indeed been booked.[19]
Clark involved himself somewhat more in interacting with the hosts during his time on air, and stayed on a few minutes longer than he had in previous years. His speech was still a bit slurred and occasionally incomprehensible to some viewers.[20] During the countdown, Clark accidentally began counting by twos at the 14-second mark, but corrected himself three seconds later and remained on time for the remainder of the countdown.[20] Starting this year, the Toshiba billboard countdown clock as seen in Times Square was also shown in the lower right of the screen.
For Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2011, Ke$ha and Taio Cruz performed live from Times Square. Also, after a year's hiatus, the pre-taped musical performances recorded in Hollywood returned. For the fifth consecutive year, singer Fergie appeared as hostess, this year of the pre-taped segments taped in Hollywood. Actress Jenny McCarthy appeared as a hostess of the Times Square festivities.[21]
Among the performers who also appeared were Avril Lavigne, along with her new single "What The Hell", Natasha Bedingfield who performed her latest single "Strip Me", Jennifer Hudson, Ne-Yo, Train, Mike Posner, Willow Smith, Jason Derülo, Far East Movement, La Roux, Ke$ha, Drake, and closing the show, the supergroup NKOTBSB (the combined Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block).[21] For the ball drop countdown segment leading up to 2011, Clark had perfected his counting with twenty-four seconds left on the clock.
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2012, was once again hosted by Ryan Seacrest with Dick Clark providing the countdown. Fergie co hosted for the sixth consecutive year for the pre-taped Hollywood segment, while comedian Jenny McCarthy returned for her second year of co hosting in Times Square.[22] Musical guests in Times Square included Lady Gaga (who also pressed the countdown button with Mayor Michael Bloomberg), Justin Bieber, Beyonce, Pitbull and Hot Chelle Rae.[22] Performers in the pre-taped Hollywood segment included Taio Cruz, Nicki Minaj, Florence + the Machine, LMFAO, Gym Class Heroes, Blink-182, OneRepublic, The Band Perry, will.i.am and Christina Perri.[22] The 2012 Rockin' Eve also included 2 performances by Robin Thicke from the Los Angeles remote feed.[23]
During the ball drop countdown into 2012, Dick Clark had flawlessly counted down starting at the 17 second mark.
Additionally, to honor Dick Clark's 40th anniversary hosting coverage of New Year's Eve in Times Square, the Primetime show was preceded by a two hour retrospective, featuring highlights and memorable events from previous editions of the show.[23]
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