The annual New Year's Rockin' Eve television special first aired in 1972.
The program debuted as a New Year's Eve special on NBC on December 31, 1972, with Dick Clark as host. It was conceived as a pop-music alternative to Guy Lombardo's traditional big-band broadcasts, which had dominated American New Year's television for decades.
The first program included performances by Three Dog Night and other contemporary artists. The special later moved to ABC, where it became a long-running part of the network's New Year's schedule. Its Times Square segments connected televised musical performances with the live ball drop in New York City.
The title was later changed to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, and the show continued after Clark's death with other hosts. The year 1972 refers to the program's first broadcast, not the date of a later reboot or the first Times Square ball drop, which took place in 1907.