What was the original title of the American TV special now known as Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve?

The original title of the American TV special now known as Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve was “Three Dog Night’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.”

ABC first broadcast the program on December 31, 1972, for the transition into 1973. It was created as a contemporary alternative to the more formal New Year’s Eve specials that dominated television at the time. Dick Clark hosted the show from Times Square, while the musical group Three Dog Night performed from a California ballroom.

The title changed after the first broadcast, and later editions increasingly centered on Clark’s hosting and live Times Square coverage. The program eventually became one of the best-known American New Year broadcasts, combining performances, celebrity appearances and the Times Square countdown. The title is sometimes mistakenly treated as having always included Dick Clark’s name, but the first edition’s name referred to Three Dog Night instead.