The first televised New Year’s Eve celebration by Dick Clark in 1972 was hosted from Times Square.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve began as a television special for the transition from 1972 to 1973. Clark hosted the program from a studio near Times Square and reported on the live atmosphere surrounding the famous ball drop. The show combined musical performances with the midnight countdown and eventually became an annual American television institution.
The program’s official title later included “with Ryan Seacrest” after Seacrest became the principal host in the 2000s. Its first broadcast should not be confused with the first Times Square ball drop, which occurred in 1907, decades before televised countdown specials. The show’s long-running association with Times Square helped link the television audience to the public celebration in Manhattan.