America’s New Year’s Eve Broadcast History: The Dick Clark Years

December 31, 1972 was a strange time in the country…Vietnam, the Olympic disaster, Watergate, the works, however, there was still a calming familiar face. That night, NBC aired a special: ‘Three Dog Night’s Year’s Rockin’ Eve 1973’. It was hosted by members of the famous band, but it was produced by Dick Clark. It was so successful among the targeted young viewers that another special, New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 1974, was made and hosted by George Carlin and featured several popular musical performances. For 1975, the show moved to ABC, and Dick Clark took the reins as host. By 1977, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve became the annual television tradition. He would go on to host the show for forty-three straight years. The only exception during that run: ‘ABC 2000′, where the network aired celebrations heralding the new millennium around the world. While there was no “official” New Year’s Rockin’ Eve’ show that year, Dick was still there in his famous spot at Times Square, counting down like always inside the ABC special. The beginning of the end of the era came on December 6, 2004. It was on that day when news broke that he has been hospitalized after suffering from a minor stroke. While he said that he would still be good to go, eight days later on December 14, the official announcement came that Regis Philbin would fill in for NYRE 2005. While he wasn’t there in person, he was there in spirit with signs from fans and celebrity messages throughout the night. Clark returned in 2006, but he would no longer be solo. ‘American Idol’ and Top 40 host Ryan Seacrest became his new co-host and started his tenure joining Clark in his first television experience since the stroke. Ratings were there to welcome him, as the show drew in over 20 million viewers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InnKqhbYmds

For the entire interview, visit http://www.emmytvlegends.org/interviews/people/dick-clark Dick Clark was interviewed in 1999 for the Archive of American Tele…

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