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NBC New Year's Eve specials

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NBC's New Year's Eve
Created byCarson Daly
Presented byCarson Daly (2004-present)
Chrissy Teigen (2019)
Julianne Hough (2020)
tWitch (2020)
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes9
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesUniversal Television
Carson Daly Productions
Original release
NetworkNBC
ReleaseDecember 31, 2004 –
present

NBC's New Year's Eve (formerly New Year's Eve with Carson Daly) is a television special which airs on New Year's Eve annually on NBC. The special is broadcast from Times Square in New York City, and prominently features coverage of its annual ball drop event, along with live and pre-recorded musical performances by popular musicians from Rockefeller Center and Los Angeles. Premiering for New Year's Eve 2004-05, the special competes against similar specials that also cover the ball drop, such as ABC's New Year's Rockin' Eve. The special is hosted and produced by Carson Daly—better known since 2011 as host of The Voice, through his self-named production company, in association with Universal Television.

Similarly to other New Year's Eve specials broadcast by the major networks, it is divided into two halves, including an hour aired in primetime at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, followed by the main program at 11:30 p.m. following late local news or other programming. For the 2016 and 2017 editions, the primetime portion was replaced with special live editions of Hollywood Game Night and Late Night with Seth Meyers respectively. After going on hiatus in 2018, the show returned for 2019 under its current title, with Daly joined by Chrissy Teigen as a co-host. In 2020, dancer, actress and singer Julianne Hough and tWitch replaced Teigen as Daly's correspondents on the show.

History

Before Carson Daly

Since the 1940s, NBC had broadcast coverage of New Year's festivities from Times Square anchored by Ben Grauer on both radio and television. Its coverage was later incorporated into special editions of the network's late night talk show, The Tonight Show, continuing through Johnny Carson's tenure as host.[1] Beginning in 1972, NBC aired the first two editions of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, before it moved to its current home of ABC.[2] Beginning in 1992, The Tonight Show's new host Jay Leno continued this tradition when New Year's Eve fell on a weekday, broadcasting a special live episode with coverage of the ball drop.[3] For 2000, NBC aired special coverage hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw and Today anchor Katie Couric, with Leno presenting a monologue segment at 11:35 p.m. ET.[4] Conan O'Brien also provided a more tongue-in-cheek complement on Late Night for most of that show's run, with his night's episode featuring a countdown for the Central Time Zone, usually involving jokes and gags specific to Chicago and the Midwest, and depreciation about network specials never offering countdowns for that time zone.

2004-2017: New Year's Eve with Carson Daly

Following his arrival at the network from MTV (where he had also hosted New Year's specials), Carson Daly had personally expressed an interest in participating in other ventures for NBC alongside his new late night program Last Call with Carson Daly, including the idea of producing a New Year's Eve special for the network. The first edition of the special, known as New Year's Eve with Carson Daly, premiered for New Year's Eve 2004-05. Discussing the special, Daly said that New Year's Eve with Carson Daly would be "a little smarter than MTV, yet cooler than Dick Clark".[5] Daly hosted the first edition of the special from Rockefeller Center, averaging a total of 4.5 million viewers; by contrast, ABC's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve pulled in 7.9 million, and Fox's New Year's Eve Live with Ryan Seacrest pulled in 5.7 million.[1] The special featured performances by Avril Lavigne, Duran Duran, and Maroon 5, along with special guest appearances by Brian Williams and Donald Trump.[5] The 2004-05 edition only featured a primetime segment, with The Tonight Show airing in its regular time slot.[6]

For the 2005-06 edition, Daly began hosting the show from directly from Times Square; the program also moved into late night, allowing it to cover the ball drop. Daly said that the program would showcase the atmosphere of the event and not be a "giant mishmash of pre-produced things."[1] A primetime segment returned for the 2008-09 edition, which aired in addition to the late-night segment.[7]

The 2013-14 edition featured performances by Mariah Carey and Blake Shelton, and was co-hosted by Jane Lynch. Guest Natasha Leggero' faced controversy over remarks regarding a controversial tweet made by SpaghettiOs on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack (which featured a cartoon SpaghettiO with a flag captioned "Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us"), quipping that "it sucks that the only survivors of Pearl Harbor are being mocked by the only food they can still chew." Her remarks were met with an immediate backlash over social media; in response, Leggero stated in a blog entry that she would not apologize, arguing that "the amazing courage of American veterans and specifically those who survived Pearl Harbor is [not] in any way diminished by a comedian making a joke about dentures on television", and that "I have more respect for Veterans than to think their honor can be impugned by a glamorous, charming comedian in a fur hat." She also called on those offended by the remarks to donate to Disabled American Veterans.[8][9][10] The 2013–14 edition marked ratings gains for the special; while it was still beaten overall by New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest, the primetime segment (which had an NBC News special, A Toast to 2013 as a lead-in) brought 50% higher ratings than the previous year, and the midnight coverage was up by 6%.[11]

For 2015-16, New Year's Eve with Carson Daly was co-hosted by Andy Cohen, and shortened to only consist of the late-night portion airing at 11:30 p.m.; the 10:00 p.m. ET/PT hour was replaced by New Year’s Eve Game Night—a special live episode of Hollywood Game Night hosted by Cohen.[12] Mel B of the Spice Girls and America's Got Talent co-hosted the 2016–17 edition, which included performances by Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and Pentatonix. The 10:00 p.m. ET/PT hour was occupied by a special primetime edition of Late Night with Seth Meyers, with guests Arnold Schwarzenegger (The New Celebrity Apprentice), Leslie Jones, and Jennifer Lawrence.[13][14]

2017-2018: hiatus

There was no 2017-18 edition, as NBC had provisionally scheduled Sunday Night Football for the final day of the regular season. The NFL eventually chose not to schedule a primetime game at all, since there were no games that presented a clear "win or go home" scenario not affected by earlier games.[15][16] NBC scheduled reruns of Dateline and The Wall in place of the game, and did not provide any national New Year's programming.[17][18]

2018-onwards: NBC's New Year's Eve

The special returned for the 2018-19 edition as NBC's New Year's Eve 2019, with Daly and Chrissy Teigen as hosts, and comedian Leslie Jones and NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt as guests. The special featured performances by Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Clarkson, Andy Grammer, John Legend, Diana Ross, Blake Shelton, as well as Keith Urban and Brett Young from Nashville. The 2019 edition restored the primetime hour at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, which was seen by 5.41 million viewers (including its lead-in, A Toast to 2018, NBC sustained an average of 4.85 million in primetime overall). The late-night portion received a 4.8 rating in metered markets.[19][20]

The 2019-20 edition featured Julianne Hough and Stephen "tWitch" Boss (of The Ellen DeGeneres Show) as correspondents, and performances by Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Leslie Odom Jr., Gwen Stefani, Ne-Yo, The Struts, X Ambassadors, and Keith Urban from Nashville.[21] The program was seen by a total of 7.83 million viewers, approximately 2 percent less than from the year prior, and saw a decline in its demographic rating to 2.1.[22] For the primetime hour, the program was seen by 5.31 million viewers, with 4.38 million watching its lead-in, A Toast to 2019.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b c Oldenberg, Ann (29 December 2005). "Battle of Times Square". USA Today. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  2. ^ Stelter, Brian (December 31, 2011). "4 Decades Later, He Still Counts". New York Times. p. C1. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
  3. ^ King, Susan (December 28, 1997). "Talking in the New Year". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  4. ^ JENSEN, ELIZABETH; LOWRY, BRIAN (1999-11-26). "Welcoming the New Year From the Sofa". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  5. ^ a b "Carson Daly stakes his claim on New Year's Eve". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 31, 2004. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
  6. ^ Bauder, David (December 27, 2004). "Challenger TV hosts ready to grab the ball when it drops". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  7. ^ "Who's got talent?". Chicago Tribune. December 30, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  8. ^ "TV highlights: Networks compete for most entertaining New Year's show". Washington Post. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  9. ^ "Comedian Natasha Leggero responds to controversy over World War II veteran joke: 'I'm not sorry". New York Daily News. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  10. ^ "Comedian Natasha Leggero is Sorry/Not-Sorry About SpaghettiO-Gate". New York Observer. Retrieved 6 January 2014.
  11. ^ "ABC Easily Tops New Year's Eve Ratings But NBC Makes Strides". Variety. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
  12. ^ "Andy Cohen Takes Over NBC's Primetime New Year's Eve With 'Game Night' Special". Deadline.com. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  13. ^ "Seth Meyers Sets Guests for First New Year's Eve Special". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Blake Shelton, Alicia Keys and Pentatonix Set to Perform on NBC's New Year's Eve Special". People. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  15. ^ Burke, Timothy. "NFL Cancels New Year's Eve Sunday Night Football Game After Realizing It Scheduled A New Year's Eve Sunday Night Football Game". Deadspin. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
  16. ^ "NFL finalizes Week 17 schedule; no Sunday Night Football game". NFL.com. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
  17. ^ Petski, Denise (2017-12-27). "NFL Cancels Sunday Night Football This Week On NBC". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-12-31.
  18. ^ "New Year's Eve With Steve Harvey: Live from Times Square – New Year's Eve: A Guide to the Live Countdown Specials". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-01-01.
  19. ^ "Diana Ross, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson & More to Perform at 'NBC's New Year's Eve 2019'". Billboard. Retrieved 2018-12-09.
  20. ^ "Jennifer Lopez and Bebe Rexha Join 'NBC's New Year's Eve' 2019 Lineup". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2018-12-21.
  21. ^ "'NBC's New Year's Eve 2020' Unveils Hosts & Musical Guest Lineup". TV Insider. Retrieved 2019-12-28.
  22. ^ a b Porter, Rick (2020-01-02). "New Year's Eve Draws Big TV Crowd, Down Slightly vs. 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-03-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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