What to Watch on New Year’s Eve: See Acorn drop in Raleigh, big ball in Times Square
New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (8 p.m., CNN) - Once again, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen co-host CNN’s New Year’s Eve live celebration from Times Square in New York. This goes straight through till past midnight and almost always features anchor Don Lemon drunk on the street somewhere (although this year it looks like CNN has Lemon and Brooke Baldwin co-hosting a countdown celebration from Nashville, which starts at 12:30 a.m. ET).
A Toast to 2019! (8 p.m., NBC) - Kristen Bell, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Tony Hale, Terry Crews, Nikki Glaser and others join Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager as they break down the biggest pop culture moments and trends of the year.
New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest (8 p.m., ABC) - Ryan Seacrest and Lucy Hale host New Year’s Eve festivities from Times Square in New York. This will break at 11 p.m. for the local news and then it’s back to the countdown. (ABC11 will typically do a split screen at midnight to show the Acorn Drop from downtown Raleigh.)
Fox’s New Year’s Eve with Steve Harvey (8 p.m., Fox) - Steve Harvey and co-hosts Maria Menounos and Rob Gronkowski ring in the New Year from Times Square in New York. Musical performances by LL Cool J featuring DJ Z-Trip, The Chainsmokers, The Lumineers, Florida Georgia Line and others. This breaks at 10 p.m. for the local news, then picks up again at 11 p.m.
NBC’s New Year’s Eve Special (10 p.m., NBC) - Celebrity hosts emcee the countdown live from New York’s Times Square and from Nashville, with musical performances.
WRAL’s First Night Raleigh (10:59 p.m., WRAL / NBC) - WRAL reports from First Night in downtown Raleigh, and coverage includes the Acorn Drop from Fayetteville Street. This ends at 12:07 a.m. and goes back to NBC for the remainder of NBC’s special from Times Square.
Some programming descriptions are provided by networks.
