<P> Following the death of Guy Lombardo and the decline of the Royal Canadians' special, New Year's Rockin' Eve grew in popularity, and became ingrained in pop culture--even prompting Clark himself to make appearances on other programs in parody of his role . To this day, New Year's Rockin' Eve has consistently remained the highest - rated New Year's Eve special broadcast by the United States' major television networks; its 2012 edition peaked at 22.6 million home viewers--not including viewers watching from public locations, which were historically not measured by Nielsen . Dick Clark hosted New Year's Rockin' Eve annually from 1973 through 2004, and served as a Times Square correspondent alongside Peter Jennings for ABC News's special coverage of year 2000 celebrations . </P> <P> The complications of a stroke suffered by Clark in December 2004 had a major effect on his role in the special . After having Regis Philbin serve as a guest host for 2005, Clark returned to the special for the 2006 edition: due to speech impediments resulting from his stroke, Clark ceded hosting duties to Ryan Seacrest, but still made limited appearances . The death of Dick Clark on April 18, 2012 left Ryan Seacrest as the sole host of New Year's Rockin' Eve beginning with its 2012--13 edition . Seacrest has most recently been joined by Jenny McCarthy as a correspondent from Times Square, with Ciara serving as the presenter of the Hollywood concert segments . Through its deal with Dick Clark Productions, New Year's Rockin' Eve will remain on ABC through at least 2024 . </P> <P> New Year's Rockin' Eve is primarily broadcast from Times Square in New York City, providing coverage of the New Year's Eve festivities held there, culminating with the long - running ball drop leading to midnight and the New Year . The special also features pre-recorded segments featuring performances by popular musicians; since the 2017--18 edition, these concert segments (branded since the 2014 - 15 edition as the "Billboard Hollywood Party") have been presented from a studio in Los Angeles by Ciara . Since the 2016--17 edition, Lucy Hale has hosted additional coverage and performances from New Orleans . </P> <P> Since 2005, Ryan Seacrest has hosted the live show outside in Times Square (along with a celebrity correspondent, Jenny McCarthy since 2011, providing additional reports from attendees). From his return and until his death, Dick Clark hosted a limited number of segments from Times Square Studios approaching midnight, but still participated in the countdown and his tradition of kissing his wife, Kari Wigton, at midnight . </P>

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