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Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2027 to Simulcast on Disney+ and ABC

6:08 PM ETConfirmed

Entertainment Desk

In Short: Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest will simulcast on Disney+ and ABC for the first time in the show's history.

Dick Clark Productions and ABC announced Wednesday that 'Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2027' will simulcast on Disney+ alongside the live broadcast on ABC, marking the first time the show will be available on the streaming platform. This year's event will feature the longest telecast in the show's over-50-year history, with an additional 90 minutes of programming and more than 85 songs performed.

Ryan Seacrest will return to host the program, with comedian and actor Druski joining as the Chicago co-host. Rita Ora returns to co-host from New York's Times Square, and Julianne Hough and NFL legend Rob Gronkowski will return to lead celebrations from Las Vegas. The expanded eight-hour celebration will include four live countdown celebrations from New York City's Times Square, Las Vegas, Chicago, Puerto Rico, Nashville, and Kansas City.

Social engagement reached new heights as 'Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve' and ABC generated more than 506 million video views across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and X during the five days surrounding the broadcast, a +165% increase year over year. The special landed its best ratings in four years; according to live+3 day numbers, at the midnight mark when 2025 turned into 2026, a huge 30.01 million viewers were tuned in.

More than 30 million viewers watched the iconic Times Square ball drop at midnight, while the 11:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m. ET time frame averaged 19.606 million viewers, with a 5.00 rating in adults 18-49. The 2026 edition featured 42 performers and nearly 100 songs performed across multiple locations, marking the longest telecast in the show’s history.

The Chicago Riverwalk will host a Central Time Zone countdown, with hometown hero Chance the Rapper as the host. Downtown street closures for the New Year’s Eve festivities in Chicago begin at 10 a.m., with the Chicago River closed to boat traffic from 11:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.

The expanded lineup and digital strategy under CEO Josh D’Amaro aim to make Disney+ the “digital centerpiece” of the company. The show will also stream ESPN Deportes’ Spanish-language broadcast on Disney+.

Dick Clark launched the program as a more youthful alternative to bandleader Guy Lombardo’s long-running New Year’s Eve specials on CBS. The program has consistently delivered unforgettable moments, from Taylor Swift’s “1989” Times Square medley to recent electrifying sets by Sabrina Carpenter, Lenny Kravitz, Alanis Morissette, Jonas Brothers, and Duran Duran.

The iconic Times Square ball drop has been a New Year’s Eve tradition since 1907, with nearly 1 million people gathering in New York City every Dec. 31 to watch the annual New Year's Eve ball drop.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• ABC and Dick Clark Productions announced on Wednesday that "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2027" will be simulcast on Disney+ alongside the live broadcast on ABC, for the first time in the show's history.
• Last year, the featured artists included Diana Ross ushering in the New Year from Times Square, as well as 4 Non Blondes, 50 Cent, AJR, The All-American Rejects, BigXthaPlug, Chance the Rapper, Chappell Roan, Charlie Puth, Ciara, Daddy Yankee, Demi Lovato, DJ Cassidy's star-studded "Pass The Mic Live!" featuring Busta Rhymes, T.I.
• With 42 featured performers and nearly 100 songs performed across New York City's Times Square, Las Vegas, Chicago, Puerto Rico, Nashville, Kansas City and more, the telecast will be the longest in the show's over-50-year history.
• Rita Ora returns to co-host from New York's Time Square, and performer and "Dancing with the Stars" host Julianne Hough returns as the Las Vegas host alongside former NFL star Rob Gronkowski.
• More details about this year's lineup will be announced in the coming months.
• Social engagement reached new heights as “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” and ABC generated more than 506 million video views across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X during the five days surrounding the broadcast, a +165% increase year over year.
• Druski, Rita Ora, Julianne Hough and Rob Gronkowski will co-host alongside Seacrest “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” will simulcast across ABC and Disney+ for the first time as the special rings in 2027.
• More than 30 million viewers watched the iconic Times Square ball drop at midnight, while the 11:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m.
• Ryan Seacrest will, of course, be back to host, and he’ll be joined once again by co-host Rita Ora live from Times Square in New York City.
• Ryan Seacrest returns to host the program, with comedian and actor Druski joining as the Chicago co-host.
• Consistently ranking as one of America’s most-watched television specials according to Nielsen, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026” reached 46 million total viewers, making it the No. 1 television program of the night.
• Produced by Dick Clark Productions, “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2027” is executive produced by Seacrest, Michael Dempsey, Jay Penske and Barry Adelman.

What's still developing

• ‘Tis a shame they couldn’t do so during the “ChiTown Rising” celebrations for 2016 and 2017, but those were primarily broadcast by the local NBC affiliate at the time.
• Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve has been playing in the background of booze- and snack-laden New Year's Eve parties for decades now, and it's not going anywhere.
• Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Corporation, the parent company of Deadline.
• In the coming weeks, we should have more information about who will be performing at New Year’s Rockin Eve.
• "Let's embrace a new beginning, new opportunities, new joy — a celebration of love, where we all come together as we begin 2026."
• "Together we begin a new year," Ross said in a statement.
• Ball/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty; Rebecca Sapp/Getty Global music icon Diana Ross will headline Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
• At the time, the pair were playing husband and wife in the widely popular The Hughleys.
• However, we've started to see even that shift begin, and it will continue this New Year's Eve.

Sources

• ABC7 Eyewitness Newslink
• ABC7 Los Angeleslink
• Block Club Chicagolink
• Entertainment Weeklylink
• Give Me My Remotelink
• Gulf Coast News and Weatherlink
• LATF USA NEWSlink
• LateNighterlink
• Laughing Placelink
• Music Mayhemlink
• Peoplelink
• TheFutonCritic.comlink
• TheWraplink
• Varietylink
• What's On Disney Pluslink
• Deadlinelink
• spray1337 / YouTube — video link