CNN’s New Year’s Eve Special Draws Biggest Ratings in Network’s History, Beating All of Cable

The coronavirus pandemic forced a lot of people to dial down their New Year’s Eve plans, but the CDC guidelines urging people to stay home may have been good news for CNN, which had its best New Year’s Eve ever, ratings-wise.

CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, which aired from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m., was the most-watched show in all of cable on Dec. 31, 2020. More than 3.36 million total viewers tuned in, 1.21 million of them in the key demographic of viewers age 25-54. New Year’s Eve Live with Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin, from 12:30 a.m. to 1:30 a.m., dropped off a little bit, with 2.52 million total viewers, 953,000 of them in the demo.

The big viewer turnout – and maybe the fact that both MSNBC and Fox News aired pre-taped or repeat programs at midnight – boosted CNN to a big win in prime time on New Year’s Eve, with more viewers than MSNBC (822,000 total, 117,000 in the demo) and Fox News (1.41 million total, 251,000 in the demo) combined.

It’s the fourth year the Cooper and Cohen have hosted the CNN special, which airs annually from Times Square in New York City. Cohen replaced Anderson’s longtime co-host Kathy Griffin in 2017, following backlash to Griffin posing with a model of President Donald Trump’s severed head. This year’s special featured performances and appearances by Mariah Carey, Snoop Dogg, Leslie Jordan, and more.