The Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop is typically shown on major U.S. networks, most prominently on ABC as part of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” and it is also featured in CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage.

Main channels to watch

  • ABC airs the ball drop during “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest,” which starts at 8 p.m. ET and carries the Times Square countdown to midnight.
  • CNN usually shows the ball drop as part of its “New Year’s Eve Live” special from Times Square.
  • Official, free livestreams are available on TimesSquareNYC.org, TimesSquareBall.net, and on YouTube, which show the ball drop without commercials.

If you don’t have cable

  • You can get ABC and CNN through live TV streaming services (in supported markets), such as Sling TV, Fubo, YouTube TV, DirecTV Stream, or Hulu + Live TV.
  • If you only need the drop itself, the official Times Square webcast and YouTube streams are usually the simplest way to watch.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.