A short history of New Year's Eve on television
Many Americans prefer to ring in the new year safely sequestered in their homes, since the pre-TV days of radio they've been able to experience the excitement of the ball drop in Times Square from their living rooms via live broadcasts.
Until the late-seventies, one name was synonymous with New Year's Eve - bandleader Guy Lombardo who supplied the on-air musical party leading up to the big moment on CBS TV from 1956 until the December 31st before his death in 1977.
Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadians' first New Year's Eve broadcast was in 1928, heard coast-to-coast over the CBS Radio network. Combined with the band's 20 years on television, that's just short of a half century celebrating the beginning of a new year for the public to enjoy, those who couldn't be in Times Square to watch the ball drop in person.
New Year's Eve 1957 with Guy Lombardo live from the Grill Room at the Hotel Roosevelt:
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Two years after Guy Lombardo passed away his band The Royal Canadians continued the tradition but, by that time, the American public craved a more raucous celebration so TV perennial Dick Clark stepped in with his live 'New Year's Rockin' Eve' broadcasts beginning in 1973. He became more famous for this than his Saturday show American Bandstand.
NBC's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1974 Ball Drop Part 2:
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The first two New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcasts were hosted by Three Dog Night in 1973 then George Carlin in 1974 with Dick Clark in the role of on-the-scene Times Square reporter. These were broadcast by NBC. For 1974–75 the program moved to ABC where it stayed with Dick Clark as host. With the death of Guy Lombardo in 1977, Dick Clark became the nation's go-to guy for midnight December 31st. Ratings were huge.
In 1980, MTV launched their Annual New Years Eve Rock and Roll Ball to compete with Dick Clark and it proved popular as well:
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Dick Clark suffered a stroke in 2004 so other celebrities were brought in to be the primary host although Clark continued to be seen on the broadcast. Here's the last pre-stroke special:
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1994 PBS television special looking back on an almost 50 year tradition - 'New Year's Eve with Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.'
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