ABC’s annual broadcast of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 – Part 1 (11:30 p.m. -12:33 a.m.) attracted an average audience of 17.61 million Total Viewers and 8.49 million Adults 18-49 viewers. Versus other network New Year’s Eve specials, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 – Part 1 outdelivered the combined audiences of NBC’s New Year’s Eve w/Carson Daly and Fox’s New Year’s Eve – Times Square ‘08 by 19% in Total Viewers and by 20% among Adults 18-49. Compared to all entertainment programs for the week, including primetime, (week of December 29, 2008), Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 – Part 1 ranked No. 1 in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 – Part 1 was up over the previous year among Adults 18-49 by 4%, drawing its largest audience in the key sales demo in 3 years – since 2005. In addition, the ABC New Year’s Bash was up by 20% in Adults 18-34 viewers (3.59 million vs. 3.00 million), logging its best performance in 5 years – since 2003. The top New Year’s Eve program on cable, CNN New Year’s Eve Live (2.31 million) drew just a small fraction of the audience of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2009 – Part 1.
Despite the late time period, the second segment of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest – Part 2 (1:08-2:05 a.m.) attracted 5.42 million Total Viewers on average and 2.89 million Adults 18-49. The segment was up by nearly 1.0 million viewers and by 22% among Adult 18-49 viewers over the previous year. In fact, the second segment posted it largest audience in 6 years and biggest Adults 18-49 audience in 4 years – since 2002 and 2004, respectively.
