| New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Sandra Restrepo |
| Presented by | Rachel Smith |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Robert Deaton, Mary Hilliard Harrington |
| Production location | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Production company | Music City Inc. |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | December 31, 2021 (2021-12-31) – present |
New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash is aNew Year's Eve television special that has been broadcast byCBS since December 31, 2021. The special features coverage of festivities inNashville, Tennessee, primarily featuring performances bycountry musicians from theBicentennial Capitol Mall State Park among other venues, culminating with Nashville's music notedrop at midnight in theCentral Time Zone.
Since the 2022–23 edition, the special has also incorporated coverage of theTimes Squareball drop in New York City, at midnight in theEastern Time Zone.
CBS had long been associated withGuy Lombardo's annual New Year's Eve specials from theWaldorf Astoria New York onradio and television, featuring hisband The Royal Canadians.[1][2] Following Guy's death in 1977, and a failed attempt to maintain the special with his brotherVictor Lombardo amid mounting pressure fromNew Year's Rockin' Eve onABC, CBS replaced the special withHappy New Year, America in 1979,[3][4][5] which ran until 1996. Barring 1998 (where CBS scheduled a special episode ofLate Show with David Letterman to compete with the then-traditional New Year's Eve episode ofThe Tonight Show)[6] and 1999 (where CBS aired aAmerica's Millennium special co-hosted by then-CBS Evening News anchorDan Rather and actorWill Smith fromWashington, D.C.),[7] CBS had not carried a New Year's Eve special since, and had instead carriedreruns of its regular prime time and late-night lineups against its competitors' offerings.[8]
In September 2021, CBS announced that it would introduce a newcountry music-oriented special fromNashville,Tennessee,New Year's Eve Live: Nashville's Big Bash, on December 31, 2021, in partnership with the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp. The five-hour special would be broadcast primarily fromBicentennial Capitol Mall State Park and other locations across the city (such as Skydeck on Broadway), with headlining performances byDan + Shay,Dierks Bentley,Lady A, and theZac Brown Band among others, and culminating with Nashville'smusic notedrop at midnight in theCentral Time Zone.[9] In November 2021, CBS announced thatRachel Smith ofEntertainment Tonight and radio personalityBobby Bones would serve as co-hosts.[10]
On December 31,Zac Brown announced that he had contractedCOVID-19, and that Zac Brown Band had therefore been dropped from the special.[9] The special had an average audience of 4.8 million viewers in primetime (finishing in second place behindNew Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC in the same window),[11] and peaked at 5.51 million viewers near midnightET.[12] CBS finished in third place overall behindNBC's inauguralMiley's New Year's Eve Party andNew Year's Rockin' Eve.[11]
For 2023, Smith was joined as co-hosts by country singersJimmie Allen andElle King,[12][13] and performances byKelsea Ballerini (with special guestWynonna Judd),Dierks Bentley,Flo Rida (with Jimmie Allen),Luke Bryan,Sheryl Crow (with guestAshley McBryde),Little Big Town,Steve Miller (with guestsKing Calaway),Thomas Rhett (withRiley Green),Darius Rucker,Lainey Wilson, the Zac Brown Band (withThe War and Treaty), as well as an hour-long, headlining set byBrooks & Dunn.[14][15] The special also added segments covering theTimes Squareball drop, with Cody Alan ofCMT andWCBS-TV meteorologistLonnie Quinn as correspondents.[16]
CBS once again finished in third place for the night, down from 2022 with an average of 3.9 million viewers, and peaking at an average of 4.8 million near midnight ET;[17] following the lead of NBC's special the previous year, bothNashville's Big Bash andNew Year's Rockin' Eve changed their formats to end their primetime segments at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, and begin their late-night segments at 10:30 p.m. ET/PT.[18][17][19]
Smith and King returned as co-hosts for 2024,[20] which featured performances byBailey Zimmerman,Blake Shelton, theBrothers Osborne,Carly Pearce,Cody Johnson,Elle King, Grace Bowers,Hardy,Jackson Dean,Jon Pardi,Kane Brown,Lainey Wilson,Lynyrd Skynyrd (commemorating the band's 50th anniversary),Megan Moroney,Morgan Wallen,Old Dominion,Parker McCollum,Trace Adkins, andTrombone Shorty.[21][22] Benefiting from a lead-in byNFL coverage, CBS averaged 8.31 million viewers during the primetime segment (notably beating the primetime block ofNew Year's Rockin' Eve by 1.28 million viewers), and 8.12 million during the 11:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m. segment, which were 112% and 51% increases over 2022–23 respectively.[23][24]
For 2025,Keith Urban replaced King as a co-host, with Urban joined byKane Brown andJelly Roll as headliners.[25] CBS's ratings declined for 2025, with 4.9 million viewers in primetime and 6.9 million during the late-night portion.[26] The 2025–26 edition featuredJason Aldean,Dierks Bentley,Brooks & Dunn,Rascal Flatts,Marcus King,Zach Top,Keith Urban,Gretchen Wilson,Lainey Wilson,Dwight Yoakam, andBailey Zimmerman, as well as guest appearances by theFisk Jubilee Singers,SiriusXM hostCam "Buzz" Brainard, MMA fighterKayla Harrison, comedianDusty Slay, and gospel singerCeCe Winans.[27]