UPDATE: CBS’ broadcast of “Nashville’s Big Bash” reigned supreme over the New Year’s Eve special competition. Nielsen’s final ratings numbers reveal the show averaged 8.31 million viewers during the 7:30-10 pm primetime block, besting the first half of ABC’s primetime showing (7.03 million) by 18%.
CBS’ holiday programming was broken up by the local news broadcast at 10 pm and resumed at 10:30 pm, delivering an audience of 6.93 million viewers, up 50% year over year, before hitting 8.17 million total viewers as audiences gathered to ring in the new year between 11:30 pm-12:30 am. That also marks a 52% jump from the previous year. The final part of the broadcast, which aired from 12:30-1:05 am, averaged 7.24 million viewers.
“Nashville’s Big Bash” averaged 7.89 million viewers across the whole night, a 76% increase from last year, making it CBS’s most watched original entertainment special since The 65th annual Grammy Awards broadcast last February.
In comparison, CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” special with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen averaged 2.33 million total viewers during the primetime block. Though it’s not an exact comparison, the primetime telecast still ranked above Fox News Channel’s airing of “Who Can Forget 2023?” which aired during the 10-11 pm hour-block (757,000 total viewers). FNC’s “A New Year with Tyrus” reached nearly 1 million viewers during its 11 pm-12 am airing window.
PREVIOUSLY: ABC kicked off the new year with a No. 1 as the network’s annual New Year’s Eve special led the broadcast competition.
Split into two parts, the first half of the “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2024,” which aired during the 8-10 pm primetime block, recorded 7 million total viewers and 1.81 rating in the adults 18-49 demo. That marks a 35% jump in total viewers from the previous year’s telecast, which raked in an audience of 5.2 million, and an increase of 33% among Adults 18-49 (last year’s show earned a 1.36 rating). Thus, making the Sunday night broadcast its highest rated since 2020.
With a 2.93 rating among Adults 18-49, Part 2 of the telecast was crowned the highest-rated entertainment telecast on any network in primetime in the demo since ABC’s March broadcast of “The Oscars.” Airing from 10:30- 11:30 pm, an audience of 10.4 million total viewers tuned into the special, making Part 2 of the “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” special the night’s most-viewed entertainment program in primetime.
The late night telecast, which took place during 11:30 pm-12:37 am scored 18 million total viewers and an average 5.33 rating in the 18-49 demographic. The program peaked around midnight, drawing in 22.2 million total viewers and hit a 6.41 Adult 18-49 rating as viewers tuned in to watch the ball drop. The late night broadcast jumped 30% in Total Viewers from last year’s figures (13.8 million) and by 30% among Adults 18-49 (5.33 rating vs. 4.11 rating).
The second late night telecast, which aired at 1:09 a.m., recorded 5.1 million total viewers and a 1.47 rating among Adults 18-49, reflecting a significant growth from last year’s broadcast by 19% in total viewers (5.1 million vs. 4.3 million) and by 14% among Adults 18-49 (1.47 rating vs. 1.29 rating).
On the other hand, CBS’ broadcast of “Nashville’s Big Bash” snagged 7.85 million total viewers — that’s up 75% from last year — across the whole night according to Fast National Ratings. Airing from 7:30 pm- 1 am, the telecast averaged 8.21 million total viewers during the 7:30-10 pm primetime block, starting off with 11.93 million total viewers in the 7:30 pm quarter hour as CBS finished airing the Cincinnati Bengals game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs just before the broadcast began. Last year’s telecast raked in 3.86 million Live+Same Day total viewers during the 8:00-10:00 pm primetime block.
From 10:30-11:30 pm, the CBS broadcast was up 51% from the previous year, bringing in 6.93 million total viewers. In late night, CBS’s 11:30 pm-12:30 am coverage averaged 8.12 million viewers, marking a 51% jump from CBS’s 2023 average which includes out-of-home viewing. The program peaked at 8.58 million viewers in the 11:45pm quarter hour. The 12:30-1:30 am hour-block delivered 7.40 million viewers, which was up 56% from the same hour last year.
The New Year’s Eve special was also live streamed on Paramount+ and CBS’ streaming sites, and became the most-watched live streamed program of the day on the service.
