What to Watch on New Year's Eve 2025

With 2026 just around the corner, Broadway fans can close the curtain on 2025 with some Broadway and music favorites!

Countdown to midnight with Broadway alums like Death Becomes Her star Michelle Williams, Kristin Chenoweth, Ethan Slater, Hugh Jackman, along with music icons such as Chappell Roan, Diana Ross, the Jonas Brothers, Brandi Carlile, and many more. Additionally, Wicked: For Good is now available to rent or purchase on digital, just in time for your New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Check out our roundup of TV specials to ring in the New Year!

Airing live on CNN on Wednesday, Dec. 31, at 8pm ET, viewers can join Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen as they return to ring in the New Year. The special will feature music, comedy and some surprise guests, including Stephen Colbert, Robyn performing live from Times Square, Shakira performing from Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL, Brandy and Monica from The Boy Is Mine Tour presented by BPC, Bryan Adams from Madison Square Garden, Florence + The Machine, RAYE, mentalist Oz Perlman, Amy Sedaris, Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, Aloe Blacc, Patti LaBelle, Grammy and Tony Nominated Singer, Songwriter Michelle Williams, Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell, comedians B.J. Novak, Leanne Morgan, Sarah Sherman and more.

Prior to the evening show, CNN will also broadcast performances throughout the day from Hugh Jackman & Kate Hudson, Chris Isaak, OK Go, Flo Rida, Aly & AJ, Burna Boy and Cheat Codes with Cee Lo Green.

At 12:30 AM ET, CNN’s Sara Sidner, and Cari Champion will take over the celebration, counting down to the new year as the Central Time Zone rings in 2026 from Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas, with performances by country singer Vince Gill and The Head and The Heart and interviews with Flavor Flav and Ariana Madix.

“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026”

“Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2026” will air Tuesday, Dec. 31, live on beginning at 8 p.m. EST and will stream the next day on Hulu.

Ryan Seacrest returns as host alongside Rita Ora to lead the festivities from New York’s Times Square, with an all-star roster of artists including Ciara, LE SSERAFIM, Little Big Town, and Maren Morris.

Performances from the West Coast Party will include 4 Non Blondes, 50 Cent, 6lack, AJR, The All-American Rejects, BigXthaPlug, Charlie Puth, Demi Lovato, DJ Cassidy’s Pass the Mic Live! featuring Busta Rhymes, T.I., and Wyclef Jean, Goo Goo Dolls, Jess Glynne, Jessie Murph, Jordan Davis, KPop Demon Hunters: The Singing Voices of HUNTR/X (EJAE, Audrey Nuna, and REI AMI), Leon Thomas, Mariah Carey, Madison Beer, New Kids on the Block, OneRepublic, Pitbull joined by Lil Jon and Filmore, Rick Springfield, Russell Dickerson, Tucker Wetmore, and Zara Larsson.

Additional performances include Chappell Roan from Kansas City and Post Malone from Nashville.

“A Toast to 2025!”

TODAY’s Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager will ring in the new year as hosts of the two-hour primetime special A Toast to 2025!, airing December 31 from 10:30 pm–12:30 am ET on NBC.

Kotb and Bush Hager will be joined by a wide-ranging lineup of actors, athletes, comedians, TV personalities, and NBC News talent, including Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth and Tony nominee and Wicked: For Good star Ethan Slater. The special will take a look back at some of the most unforgettable, buzziest, and inspiring moments of 2025. Viewers are invited to join the celebration using #Toast2025.

The special will also feature appearances and interviews with NBC News’ Blayne Alexander; Andrea Canning; Dylan Dreyer; Willie Geist; Savannah Guthrie; Lester Holt; Tom Llamas; Josh Mankiewicz; Craig Melvin; Keith Morrison; Al Roker; NBC Sports & Olympians Maria Taylor; Lindsey Vonn; Johnny Weir; Telemundo’s Nicole Suarez (“Noticias Telemundo”); NBC Primetime & Entertainment’s Matt Iseman & Akbar Gbajabiamila (“American Ninja Warrior”); Howie Mandel (“America’s Got Talent”); David Alan Grier (“St. Denis Medical”); Belissa Escobedo (“Happy’s Place”); Melissa Roxburgh & Sara Garcia (“The Hunting Party”); Josh McKenzie & Patrick Sabongui (“The Hunting Party”); Kristin Chenoweth & Jenn Lyon (“Stumble”); Chris Hardwick (“The Wall”); Peacock Favorites Jabari Banks (“Bel-Air”); Amaya Espinal & Ariana Madix (“Love Island USA”); Tom Daley (“The Celebrity Traitors UK”); Chris Sullivan (“Devil in Disguise”); Chelsea Frei (“The Paper”); Tiffany Haddish (“Tiffany Haddish Goes Off”); and Comedians, Actors & Special Guests Brian Baumgartner; Jim Gaffigan (“Everything Is wonderful”); Lil Rel Howery; Nate Jackson; Carson Kressley; Loni Love; Chris Mann; Bobby Moynihan; Tom Papa; Rob Riggle; and Wanda Sykes.

“New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash”

New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash will air LIVE Wednesday, Dec. 31 (8:00-10:00 PM, ET/PT, 10:30 PM-1:30 AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+. Social media star Haley Baylee will correspond from New York City and count down with the East Coast at midnight ET for New York City’s Ball Drop. Kreischer and HARDY will keep the party going through midnight CT, featuring Nashville’s Music Note Drop at the Bicentennial Stage.

HARDY will also perform live at Bicentennial Park in Nashville along with previously announced headliners Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman, and special guests Cece Winans and the Fisk Jubilee Singers. Additionally, the five-hour special will feature performances by Dierks Bentley, Brooks & Dunn, Rascal Flatts, Riley Green, Marcus King, Megan Moroney, Zach Top, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Stephen Wilson Jr. from various venues across the city, as well as special appearances by comedian Dusty Slay, ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT’s Cassie DiLaura, Sirius XM host Buzz Brainard and UFC champion Kayla Harrison.

The Jonas Brothers are set to ring in 2026 with a New Year’s Eve celebration, taking the stage for a special live performance at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. Comedian Jack McBrayer will host the event, which will be livestreamed exclusively on Samsung TV Plus.

In 2025, the Jonas Brothers celebrated their 20th anniversary as a band and have been performing across North America on their Greetings From Your Hometown tour, which kicked off on August 10th at MetLife Stadium and runs through the end of the year.

The two-hour countdown celebration will take place Wednesday, December 31 at 10 p.m. ET, and fans can expect early hits, fan favorites and tracks from their latest album, Greetings From Your Hometown.

Wicked: One Wonderful Night

NBC will air a special encore presentation of “Wicked: One Wonderful Night” on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Led by Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo, the event featured musical performances from both films, including “The Wizard and I,” “What Is This Feeling?” “Defying Gravity,” “Thank Goodness,’ and more.

Filmed at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, Wicked: One Wonderful Night transformed the venue into an Emerald City-inspired set, complete with a 37-piece live orchestra led by the award-winning musical director Stephen Oremus, plus jaw-dropping musical numbers and unforgettable performances. The evening also featured captivating dance numbers inspired by the films and reimagined for this special by Christopher Scott, the acclaimed choreographer of both Wicked and Wicked: For Good. The show concluded with a duet mashup performance from Grande and Erivo of Get Happy/Happy Days Are Here Again.

Check out photos and performance clips from the event here, featuring cast members Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode, along with original Wicked stars Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth.

Bonus: Wicked: For Good

Begin the New Year by revisiting the conclusion of the Wicked movie! Amid its theatrical run, the musical adaptation of Act 2 is now available on digital platforms to own or rent in time for New Year’s Eve celebrations. Along with the theatrical version, fans can enjoy a bonus Sing-Along version, along with over one hour of bonus features, including deleted scenes, a 50+ minute exclusive look into the making of the movie with Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and the cast and filmmakers, and more behind-the-scenes featurettes.

Wicked: For Good stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Glinda, Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Jeff Goldblum as The Wizard, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, Ethan Slater as Boq, and Marissa Bode as Nessarose. Other cast members include Tony-nominee Colman Domingo as the voice of the Cowardly Lion and Sharon D. Clarke (Caroline, or Change) as the voice of Elphaba’s childhood nanny, Dulcibear.