Believe it or not, two of broadcast TV\u2019s biggest events aren\u2019t even in primetime. They also happen to pretty much bookend the year: ABC\u2019s \u201cDick Clark\u2019s New Years Rockin\u2019 Eve With Ryan Seacrest\u201d opened 2025 with record numbers, while NBC scored another big win last month with the 99th \u201cMacy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kicking off the year by peaking with 29 million viewers at midnight as 2024 turned into 2025, \u201cDick Clark\u2019s New Year\u2019s Rockin\u2019 Eve With Ryan Seacrest\u201d continues to be a juggernaut as viewers watch the ball drop in Times Square.<\/p>\n
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RELATED: The 100 Most-Watched Telecasts of 2025: Super Bowl, \u2018Tracker,\u2019 \u201960 Minutes\u2019 and the \u2018Dancing With the Stars\u2019 Season Finale<\/a><\/p>\n The telecast has turned into an all-night event, encompassing both primetime and late night elements (and for the 2026 edition, led by guest Diana Ross<\/a>, will include a Central Time Zone countdown for the first time). But the main portion, of course, is still the 11:30 p.m. ET to 1:09 a.m. telecast. For the Dec. 31, 2024 \u2014 Jan. 1, 2025 edition of \u201cNew Year\u2019s Rockin\u2019 Eve,\u201d the special\u2019s Part 1 averaged 17.9 million viewers with a 4.73 rating among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen. Viewership peaked during the midnight quarter-hour, reaching a total of 21.5 million and an 18-49 rating of 5.70.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Year\u2019s Rockin\u2019 Eve\u201d continued its reign as the most-watched New Year\u2019s Eve show on television, reaching an audience 2.5 times the size of its closest competition at 11:30, CBS\u2019 \u201cNew Year\u2019s Eve Live: Nashville\u2019s Big Bash.\u201d \u201cNew Year\u2019s Rockin\u2019 Eve\u201d was easily the No. 1 program of the night, and was ABC\u2019s most-watched entertainment telecast since the 2024 Oscars.<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0Top-Rated\u00a0Television Networks: Ranking 2025\u2019s Winners and Losers<\/a><\/p>\n Here were a few more of the year\u2019s big broadcast TV events:<\/p>\n GOLDEN GLOBES (Jan. 5): The 82nd Golden Globes<\/a> averaged 10.23 million viewers on CBS, placing the ceremony among the top 100 primetime telecasts of the year for the first time since 2020. The Globers were also up in demos including adults 25-54 (up 5 percent). The event was hosted by\u00a0Nikki Glaser<\/a>, who received rave reviews and is set to return for the 83rd Golden Globes on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026.<\/p>\n GRAMMYS (Feb. 2): This year\u2019s 67th Grammys<\/a> averaged 16.87 million viewers on CBS, down from 18.1 million viewers in 2024 but still up vs. 13.4 million in 2023 and 10.2 million in 2022. Hosted once again by Trevor Noah, the ceremony focused on fundraising efforts to help support those impacted by the L.A. fires \u2014 raising more than $25 million in the process. Variety\u2018s Chris Willman called it the best Grammys in years in his\u00a0review of the telecast<\/a>.<\/p>\n SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL (Feb. 16): An average of 16.52 million people caught the three-hour \u201cSNL50: The Anniversary Special<\/a>\u201d on Feb. 16, making the show second (only behind the Oscars) as the most-watched primetime entertainment event of the year.<\/p>\n OSCARS (March 2): The 97th Oscars<\/a>, hosted by Conan O\u2019Brien, Back on March 10, an average of 20.99 million people in live+7 watched \u201cAnora\u201d win the best picture prize \u2014 up from 20.2 million in 2024, and larger jumps from 19.4 million in 2023 and 17.6 million in 2022.<\/p>\n OPRY 100 (March 19): The event posted an average of 6.32 million viewers on NBC.<\/p>\n AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS (May 26): This year\u2019s American Music Awards<\/a> on CBS, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, averaged 5.52 million viewers in Nielsen live+7, making it the telecast\u2019s largest performance since 2019. Add in encores on MTV, CMT and BET, and the number reached more than 10 million unique viewers, according to the network. It was also the most-watched entertainment program on Memorial Day since 2001.<\/p>\n TONY AWARDS (June 8) The annual event on CBS averaged 5.69 million viewers.<\/p>\n MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS (Sept. 7) The 2025 edition of the MTV VMAs aired on CBS for the first time, where it averaged 5.64 million viewers. That helped make it the most-watched VMAs in six years.<\/p>\n EMMYS (Sept. 14): The 77th Emmys<\/a> on CBS averaged 8.16 million in live+7. In the initial live+same day measurement, 7.59 million watched, an 8% increase from the\u00a06.9 million viewers achieved by last year\u2019s ceremony<\/a>, and the most-watched\u00a0Emmys<\/a>\u00a0since 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cEVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND: 30TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL\u201d (Nov. 24): \u201cEverybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion\u201d <\/a>on CBS averaged 7.49 million viewers in live+7, making it the most-watched primetime entertainment special this fall.<\/p>\n MACY\u2019S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE (Nov. 27): In live+7 data, 99th annual Macy\u2019s Thanksgiving Day Parade<\/a> pulled in 26.67 million viewers on NBC and a 6.28 rating in the demo, making it once again the No. 1 special of the year in both measurements.<\/p>\n NATIONAL DOG SHOW (Nov. 27) The annual event posted 12.93 million viewers on NBC.<\/p>\n CHRISTMAS IN ROCKEFELLER PLAZA (Dec. 5) The event on NBC averaged 6.36 million viewers.<\/p>\n Variety parent company PMC owns Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Believe it or not, two of broadcast TV\u2019s biggest events aren\u2019t even in primetime. 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