ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” broadcast on Thursday night tied the Thanksgiving episode of “The Masked Singer” as the top-rated entertainment telecast of the season so far, according to Nielsen.
The 10-11 p.m. hour drew a total of 11.2 million total viewers and scored a 3.5 rating among adults 18-49 in live-plus-same-day viewing, according to Nielsen. The first two hours, which aired from 8-10 p.m., averaged 8.4 million viewers and a 2.3 in the demo. The primetime broadcast’s peak came, naturally, in the final half-hour, with 11.9 million viewers and a 3.8 rating at 10:30 p.m.
The Ryan Seacrest-hosted broadcast out-performed the competition, with NBC’s primetime programming averaging 4.7 million viewers and a 1.0 rating and Fox trailing at 2.2 million viewers and a 0.7 rating.
Despite the pandemic, the 2021 edition of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” even outperformed last year, with the first two hours growing by 15% and the final primetime hour up 4%.
Produced by Dick Clark Productions, the 49th edition of “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” marked Seacrest’s 16th year hosting the show, alongside “Pretty Little Liars” alum Lucy Hale, “Pose” star Billy Porter, Ciara and Big Freedia. Performers included Porter, Cyndi Lauper, Brandy, Doja Cat, Megan Thee Stallion, Miley Cyrus and Jennifer Lopez.
In a break from previous years, the Times Square celebration was (obviously) closed to the public to comply with COVID-19 safety guidelines.