Big Ben's clock tower is central to the United Kingdom's televised New Year's Eve countdown.
Big Ben is the nickname commonly used for the great bell at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London. The tower itself was renamed the Elizabeth Tower in 2012, while Big Ben technically refers to the bell rather than the entire structure.
At midnight, broadcasts commonly show the clock face and feature the striking of the great bell. The sound has become a familiar marker of the new year for audiences in the United Kingdom and around the world. London also holds a large fireworks display along the River Thames, but that display is separate from the clock tower's identity.
A frequent mistake is calling the whole tower Big Ben. In everyday speech the name is widely used that way, but the precise distinction is bell, Elizabeth Tower, and Palace of Westminster.