What To Know
- CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live special with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen achieved its second-highest ratings ever, averaging 4.5 million viewers between midnight and 12:30 am.
- The broadcast featured lively interviews and moments, including a chaotic segment with Stephen Colbert and Cohen dissing outgoing New York Mayor Eric Adams.
- The show also included appearances and performances from a range of celebrities and musicians such as Robyn, Shakira, Bryan Adams, Patti LaBelle, and Florence and the Machine.
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen have reason to celebrate as their annual CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live special scored its best rating since 2020 and its second biggest numbers overall in its near 20-year history.
The special, which, as per tradition, aired live from New York City’s Times Square, averaged 4.5 million total viewers between 12 and 12:30 am, according to live-plus-same-day Nielsen big data plus panel viewing data. This marked the show’s second-best performance in the time period since it began airing in 2007, with only 2020 scoring higher.
According to CNN, the special was up 21 per cent in total viewers and 35 per cent among the 25-54 demo, compared to last year.
The full broadcast, which aired from 8 pm to 12:30 am, averaged 2.8 million viewers and 1.1 million viewers in the key demo. This also made it the second-best performance since Cohen joined as Anderson’s permanent co-host in 2017.
Compared to last year’s special, the show was up 47 per cent in total viewers, up 70 per cent among the 25-54 demo, and up a massive 93 per cent among the 18-34 demo.
As usual, the New Year’s Eve Live special saw Anderson and Cohen taking shots while interviewing a variety of guests. This year’s event featured a chaotic interview with The Late Show’s Stephen Colbert, who took a dig at Paramount’s billionaire owners amid his show’s cancellation.
Elsewhere in the broadcast, Cohen slammed outgoing New York Mayor Eric Adams, saying, “Go dance away. We’ll see you at all the parties. You’ve partied your way through four years.” Adams fired back at Cohen on X, calling his comments “another sloppy drunken rant” and suggesting the Bravo host needs to go to Alcoholics Anonymous.
The New Year’s Eve Live show also featured appearances from B. J. Novak, Jerry O’Connell, Oz Pearlman, and Amy Sedaris, as well as performances by Robyn from Times Square, Bryan Adams from Madison Square Garden, Shakira from Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, Vince Gill from Austin, plus Aloe Blacc, Brandy and Monica, Florence and the Machine, Patti LaBelle, and Raye.
