CNN’s New Year’s Eve special with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen rang in the New Year with its biggest midnight audience since 2021.
“New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen,” which aired live from New York City’s Times Square, brought in 3.7 million total viewers and 1.36 million viewers in the key cable demo among adults 25-54 from 12:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m., according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day figures.
During that half hour period — when the ball dropped in Times Square — CNN’s New Year’s Eve special was the No. 1 most-watched program across cable in both demos, and saw upticks in both demos, leading the boozy festivities to see their best performance since 2021. From 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., the special averaged 2.98 million total viewers and 1.08 million viewers in the demo.
Though the special saw an uptick at midnight, the overall event, which aired from 8:00 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., averaged 1.88 million viewers — down 19.3% from last year’s viewership of 2.33 million — and brought in 649,000 viewers in the demo — down 19.01% from last year’s demo viewership of 802,000.
Overall, “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” ranked as the No. 2 program across cable in both demos, behind only college football on ESPN, becoming cable’s most-watched New Years program.
As the program streamed live on Max, the special also boosted New Year’s Eve 2025 to become Max’s No. 4 most-watched day on record, ranking behind only 2024’s Election Day, as well as the two presidential debates leading up to the election. This year’s special grew 10% over last year’s New Year’s Eve programming on CNN.
When combining viewing across Max and TV, “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” reached 15.8 million total viewers, up 40% from last year.
Much of the New Year’s TV viewing crowd tuned in to “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest,” which landing the top spot among New Year’s Eve primetime and late-night programming with 18 million total viewers. At midnight, the annual ABC special peaked at 21.5 million total viewers.
