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The new year is nearly here. Whether you’re celebrating quietly from your living room or hosting a stylish soirée, we’re rounding up how to stream some of the best New Year’s Eve 2025 specials online.
At a Glance: Where to Watch 2025 New Year’s Eve Specials Online
If you want to stream New Year’s Eve specials on your TV, tablet, smartphone or laptop (or cast to a big screen from an Apple or Android device), you’ll need a subscription to cable or streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) service to livestream the events. Most smart TVs already support SVOD apps, but if yours doesn’t, you’ll need to connect it to a streaming stick or device such as the Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, Google Chromecast or Roku.
Cable channels also let you stream online directly from their websites when you sign in with an existing TV account, such as DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling, Verizon, Xfinity and others.
Ahead, The Hollywood Reporter has rounded up some of the best 2025 New Year’s Eve specials to stream online.
Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration (free webcast)
Ceremony start time: Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. ET/6 p.m. ET; ball drops at midnight local time
How to watch online for free: VNYE, livestream.com, timesquarenyc.org
Actor and TV personality Jonathan Bennett and longtime host Jeremy Hassell will return to co-host the 2025 New Year’s Eve ball drop in Times Square. The event will feature musical performances by Carrie Underwood, the Jonas Brothers, TLC, Rita Ora, Mark Ambor, Kapo and others, while Mickey Guyton will sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” before the ball drops at midnight.
Apart from musical performances, the webcast will also include a Chinese cultural performance presented by the Sino-American Friendship Association, and the New York dance group AGNEW.
As for the famous ball drop, New York City Mayor Eric Adams will push the crystal button.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025 (ABC)
Show start time: Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET
How to watch ABC online: ABC.com (cable account required), DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV
The 53rd annual Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest airs on ABC starting at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET from Times Square, where executive producer Ryan Seacrest will co-host with Rita Ora. The event will be available to stream on-demand on Jan. 1, 2025, on Hulu.
The NYC celebration will feature performances by Alanis Morisette with Renée Rapp, Carrie Underwood with Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Megan Moroney, the Jonas Brothers, Laufey, Lenny Kravitz, Cody Johnson, Dasha, Ernest, Hardy, Kesha, Natasha Bedingfield, T-Pain, Teddy Swims, Thomas Rhett, Tinashe and TLC. DJ Cassidy will bring his Pass the Mic Live! experience to the Big Apple celebration with Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh. Blake Shelton will take the stage from his Las Vegas residency.
Dyanara Torres will host the Atlantic Time Zone festivities in Puerto Rico, where Luis Fonsi will perform.
Dick Clark Productions is a unit of Penske Media Eldridge. PME is a subsidiary and joint venture between Penske Media, parent company of The Hollywood Reporter, and Eldridge.
New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash (CBS and Paramount+)
Courtesy of CBS
Show start time: Dec. 31 at 7:30 p.m. ET; repeat broadcast at 10:30 p.m. ET
How to watch CBS online: CBS.com (cable account required), DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Paramount+ with Showtime
Country music fans can ring in 2025 and watch New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash live on CBS or livestream on Paramount+ with Showtime. (Note that the Paramount+ Essential plan does not include live streaming access to your local CBS channel.) The five-hour special will be co-hosted by four-time Grammy winner Keith Urban and Entertainment Tonight‘s Rachel Smith in Music City and CMT TV’s Cody Alan and WCBS-New York weather anchor Lonnie Quinn in Times Square. In addition to a performance by Urban, the five-hour special will include sets from Kane Brown, Jelly Roll, Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Eric Church, Chris Stapleton, Post Malone, Shaboozey, Lainey Wilson and others. Read more here.
New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen
Show start time: Dec. 31 at 8 p.m. ET; global coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET from London
How to watch CNN online: CNN.com (cable login required), Max, DirecTV, Fubo, Hulu + Live TV, Sling
In their eighth year as co-hosts, Anderson Cooper (who has hosted CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast for over 20 years) and Andy Cohen will lead CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live From Times Square airing live starting at 8 p.m. ET. Global coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET with Laura Coates reporting live from London, while Boris Sanchez will be on the ground in Paris starting at 2:45 p.m. ET. CNN correspondents Sara Sidner, Harry Enten and Cari Champion will take over in Austin for the broadcast’s Central Time Zone countdown starting at 11:30 p.m. CT/12:30 a.m. ET.
This year’s performers include 50 Cent (from his Las Vegas residency at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino), Mickey Guyton (who will sing John Lennon’s “Imagine” before the ball drops in Times Square) Sting, Meghan Trainor, Shania Twain, Diplo, Roy Wood Jr., Patti LaBelle, Lil John and Have I Got News For You co-hosts Michael Ian Black and Amber Ruffin. Comedians Whitney Cummings, Adam Devine, Amy Sedaris, Ziwe, Sasheer Zamata and others will also appear.
Other correspondents reporting from around the world include Richard Quest at Madame Tussauds in Times Square; Randi Kaye from Key West, Fla.; Stephanie Elam from the Bahamas; and Gary TUchman from Prescott, Ariz.
How to Stream New Year’s Eve 2025 Specials Online for Free
Looking to cut the cord? Below, The Hollywood Reporter‘s streaming TV editors round up the best ways to watch NYE 2025 specials online without traditional cable — see our picks, plus find out which options offer free trials.
Top Pick
DirecTV
Plans from $74.99 per month; five-day free trial
Watch NYE specials on ABC, CBS, CNN and other networks when you sign up for DirecTV Stream’s five-day trial.
New subscribers can also get up to $625 in value when they sign up for a 24-month agreement of the DirecTV Choice plan (or higher tier) and bundle it with the Bronze, Silver or Gold package that includes premium networks such as Max, Paramount+ with Showtime, Lifetime Movie Club and more. Regularly $74.99 to $164.99 per month, DirecTV’s cable TV streaming plans include 90 to 185 or more local and national news, entertainment and sports channels, including ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, ESPN, MSNBC, Fox and more. Learn more about the holiday bundle deal here.
Fubo
Plans on sale for up to $35 off the first month; seven-day free trial
Watch NYE specials on ABC, CNN and CBS online for free with a seven-day trial to Fubo, which is also offering new subscribers $30 off or more on their first month.
The cable TV streaming service carries over 170 other news, entertainment and sports channels. You can record over 1,000 hours of TV shows, movies, games and more (including Monday, Thursday and Sunday night football) and watch later on your smartphone, tablet or TV.
Other plans are on sale for $9.99 to $59.99 for the first month and include 66 to 309 channels.
Hulu + Live TV
Plans from $82.99 per month; three-day free trial
Stream ABC, CBS, CNN and other channels for free on Hulu + Live TV, which offers a three-day trial to new subscribers. The cable TV streamer’s bundle includes Disney+ and ESPN+ with ads, plus 75 other major cable news, entertainment and sports channels for $82.99 per month with ads or $95.99 without ads. You’ll also get access to live streaming and events on ESPN+, like UFC Fight Night, PGA golf, soccer and baseball.
Sling
Plans on sale for up to half off first month
You can also watch ABC, CBS and CNN live via Sling, which is giving new subscribers half off their first month of live TV streaming plus a free month of AMC+. That brings the first month down to $23 to $25.50 for the individual Blue and Orange plans or $33 for the combined Orange & Blue package. Note that you’ll need to connect an HD antenna and an AirTV device if you want to watch local channels on your Sling service; get more details here.
Max (CNN only)
Plans from $9.99 monthly
Stream CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen exclusively on Max, which starts at $9.99 per month for the ad-supported plan. Max subscriptions include access to HBO and Max original series and films, including Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, the latest Dune movies and prequel show, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and more.
Cord cutters can also get the Disney+, Hulu and Max bundle starting at $16.99 monthly with ads; learn more here.
Paramount+ with Showtime (CBS only)
Plans from $7.99 monthly; seven-day free trial
Watch Nashville’s Big Bash on CBS live without cable for free with a seven-day trial to Paramount+ with Showtime, which costs $12.99 per month. Note that the Paramount+ Essential plan ($7.99 per month) only includes next-day on-demand streaming of the country music NYE show. Read more here.
