Believe it or not, two of broadcast television’s biggest events don’t even take place in prime time. ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” kicked off 2025 with record numbers, and NBC scored another big win last month with the 99th annual “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
“Dick Clark’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” which kicked off the year with 29 million viewers at midnight as 2024 turns into 2025, continues to be a huge hit as viewers watch the ball drop in Times Square.
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The telecast is now an all-night event with both primetime and late-night elements (and the 2026 edition, led by guest Diana Ross, will include a Central Time Zone countdown for the first time). But, of course, the main part is still the telecast from 11:30pm to 1:09am ET. Part 1 of New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which aired from December 31, 2024 to January 1, 2025, averaged 17.9 million viewers and a 4.73 rating among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen. Viewership peaked at 3:00 PM, totaling 21.5 million viewers, with a rating of 5.70 among 18-49s.
“New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” continued to reign as the most-watched New Year’s Eve show on television, drawing 2.5 times more viewers than its closest competitor, CBS’ “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville Big Bash” at 11:30 p.m. “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” was easily the No. 1 show of the night and ABC’s most-watched entertainment television show since the 2024 Oscars.
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Here are some more of this year’s big televised events.
Golden Globe Awards (January 5): The 82nd Golden Globe Awards averaged 10.23 million viewers on CBS, ranking it among the top 100 prime-time television broadcasts of the year for the first time since 2020. The Globes also saw a boom in demos, including adults aged 25-54 (up 5%). The event was hosted by Nikki Glaser, who received rave reviews and is scheduled to perform again at the 83rd Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, January 11, 2026.
GRAMMY Awards (Feb. 2): This year’s 67th Grammy Awards averaged 16.87 million viewers on CBS, down from 18.1 million in 2024 but still up from 13.4 million in 2023 and 10.2 million in 2022. The ceremony, once again hosted by Trevor Noah, focused on fundraising to help those affected by the Los Angeles fires, and raised more viewers than it did in 2024. 25 million during the process. Variety’s Chris Willman, in his review of the telecast, called it the best Grammy Awards in years.
SNL50: Anniversary Special (Feb. 16): The three-hour “SNL50: Anniversary Special” on Feb. 16 was watched by an average of 16.52 million viewers, placing the show in second place (behind the Oscars) as the most-watched primetime entertainment event of the year.
Oscars (March 2): The 97th Oscars ceremony hosted by Conan O’Brien was held on March 10, with an average of 20.99 million viewers watching “Anora” on Live+7, which won the Best Picture award. This is an increase from 20.2 million people in 2024, and an even larger increase from 19.4 million people in 2023 and 17.6 million people in 2022.
OPRY 100 (March 19): The event averaged 6.32 million viewers on NBC.
American Music Awards (May 26): This year’s American Music Awards on CBS, hosted by Jennifer Lopez, averaged 5.52 million viewers on Nielsen Live+7, making it the biggest television performance since 2019. The network said it had more than 10 million unique viewers, including encores on MTV, CMT and BET. It was also the most-watched entertainment program on Memorial Day since 2001.
Tony Awards (June 8) CBS’ annual event averaged 5.69 million viewers.
MTV Video Music Awards (September 7) The 2025 edition of the MTV VMAs aired for the first time on CBS, with an average audience of 5.64 million viewers. This made it the most-watched VMA in six years.
Emmy Awards (Sept. 14): The 77th Annual Emmy Awards on CBS averaged 8.16 million people live + 7. The first live + same-day measurement drew 7.59 million viewers, an 8% increase from the 6.9 million achieved at last year’s ceremony, making it the most-watched Emmy Awards since 2021.
“Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Special” (November 24): CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond: 30th Anniversary Reunion” averaged 7.49 million viewers on Live+7, making it the most-watched primetime entertainment special of the fall.
Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade (November 27): The 99th Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade drew 26.67 million viewers on NBC and a 6.28 rating in the demo, again making it the No. 1 special of the year in both measures, according to Live+7 data.
National Dog Show (November 27) This annual event drew 12.93 million viewers on NBC.
Christmas at Rockefeller Plaza (Dec. 5) NBC’s event averaged 6.36 million viewers.
Variety’s parent company, PMC, owns Dick Clark Prods. In a joint venture with Eldridge.
