Fort Lauderdale will be in the national spotlight come Dec. 31, snaring a spot on CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen.”
Visit Lauderdale, the county’s tourism arm, is partnering with CNN for a three-minute broadcast from Pier Sixty-Six, a landmark resort newly renovated to the tune of $1 billion. The segment will air live aboard a Sanlorenzo yacht, said Stacy Ritter, president and CEO of Visit Lauderdale.
“There’s no better way to ring in the new year than by sharing Greater Fort Lauderdale’s energy, diversity, and joy with a global audience,” Ritter said. “We’re doing it at Pier Sixty-Six on a yacht to feature the luxury lifestyle.”
The previous two years, Key West was featured on CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, Ritter said.
“We stole it from Key West,” she said Monday. “It’s incredible the reach the show has. There are 1 million people in Times Square alone, not to mention the millions watching here and around the world.”
To extend the national spotlight, Visit Lauderdale also will launch ads on digital billboards in New York City’s Times Square. Spots will air during the New Year’s Eve telecast and continue in the weeks following the broadcast.
Those three minutes in the spotlight won’t come free. But Ritter wasn’t able to say just how much that marketing fee is costing.
“It’s a media buy that goes throughout the year,” she said.
“The live feature will highlight the energy of Greater Fort Lauderdale after dark, with stunning marina views, a festive New Year’s Eve atmosphere, and appearances by local personalities joining the celebration,” Visit Lauderdale said in a news release.
Ritter said she was not at liberty to say which local celebrities have gotten an invite.
“I can’t tell you yet,” Ritter said. “CNN embargoes a lot of this stuff.”
Ritter and her staff will be on the yacht along with employees of Pier Sixty-Six.
Pier Sixty-Six is picking up the cost of the yacht rental and also comping the food and D.J., Ritter said.
Dean Trantalis, mayor of Fort Lauderdale, says he’s glad the city is getting three minutes of fame on the last day of the year.
“It shows us that our branding efforts throughout the year resonate nationally and internationally,” he said. “The fact that Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper see Fort Lauderdale as a place of interest for their viewers is validation of the good work everyone does.”
Trantalis will be elsewhere: He plans to ring in 2026 at the “Anchor Drop,” Fort Lauderdale’s signature New Year’s Eve Downtown Countdown in Himmarshee Village. As part of the festivities, a large, illuminated anchor drops at midnight to ring in the new year.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan