money How to Watch 2023 Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball Drop Free Online
New Year’s Eve revelers across the globe can watch the iconic Times Square Ball Drop live from New York City online — for free, without commercials — along with a lineup of musical performances and other festivities ushering in 2023.
The six-hour Times Square 2023 livestream will start at 6 p.m. ET on Dec. 31, 2022, and end at 12:15 a.m. ET on Jan. 1, 2023. The show will be available on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org, LiveStream.com/2023 and TimesSquareBall.net, powered by Vimeo’s Livestream platform.
The Times Square New Year’s Eve livestream will feature artists including Chelsea Cutler — who will perform several of her hits at around 7 p.m. ET before she continues the New Year’s Eve tradition of singing John Lennon’s “Imagine” just before midnight — as well as JVKE, Jax, Ava Max, J-Hope, Osmani Garcia, New Edition, Sech and Duran Duran.
On traditional TV, Times Square also will be a central locale as part of the slate of programming airing on ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. That will include ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” (set to feature live performances by Duran Duran, Jax, J-Hope and New Edition), CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” (featuring Ava Max) and Univision’s “¡Feliz 2023!” (featuring Sech and Osmani Garcia).
The evening will kick off at 6 p.m. ET with the lighting and raising of the New Year’s Eve Ball at the top of One Times Square. Returning as the livestream’s host is actor and TV personality Jonathan Bennett (“Mean Girls,” Hallmark’s “The Holiday Sitter,” Food Network’s “Cake Wars”). Bennett will be joined by co-host Jeremy Hassell, who has been a part of the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration since 2016.
The Times Square livestream also will be available in the free VNYE app (vnye.com) from Jamestown, the real-estate company that owns One Times Square. With VNYE, users can virtually explore Times Square sights, play games and livestream New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square and around the world.
The annual event is co-organized by the Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment. This year marks the 118th celebration of New Year’s Eve in Times Square, which began when the owners of One Times Square in 1904 held their first rooftop celebration to ring in the New Year.
The first ball-lowering ceremony in Times Square took place in 1907. This New Year’s Eve, the nearly 6-ton ball — 12 feet in diameter and outfitted with 2,688 Waterford crystal triangles and 32,256 light-emitting diodes — is scheduled to descend from atop the 26-story One Times Square building starting 60 seconds before midnight local time.
Here’s the schedule of events for the 2023 Times Square New Year’s Eve Celebration:
6:00-6:03 p.m.: Lighting and raising the Times Square New Year’s Eve Ball
6:07-6:19 p.m.: SAFA Chinese cultural performance
6:20-6:27 p.m.: Performance by ANEW
6:30 p.m.: Times Square 2023 hats, balloons, necklaces, gloves and scarves
7:03-7:19 p.m.: Musical performance by Chelsea Cutler
8:03-8:17 p.m.: Musical performance by JVKE
8:23-8:29 p.m.: ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” performance by Jax
8:40-8:43 p.m.: Waterford Crystal toast
9:15-9:29 p.m.: CNN’s “New Year’s Eve Live” performance by Ava Max
9:34-9:40 p.m.: ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” performance by J-Hope
10:04-10:10 p.m.: Univision’s “¡Feliz 2023!” performance by Osmani García
10:16-10:19 p.m.: Highlights of Good Riddance Day presented by Netspend
10:19-10:22 p.m.: Planet Fitness world premiere
10:23-10:25 p.m.: Carnival “Choose Fun” moment
10:31-10:34 p.m.: Hip Hop Museum announcement
10:45-10:53 p.m.: ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” performance by New Edition
11:02-11:10 p.m.: Univision’s “¡Feliz 2023!” performance by Sech
11:11-11:15 p.m.: Kay’s New Year’s Eve Kiss
11:17-11:19 p.m.: Times Square celebrates with NYC Mayor Eric Adams
11:20-11:25 p.m.: Associated Press presents 2022 year-in-review video highlights
11:39-11:46 p.m.: ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” performance by Duran Duran
11:55-11:58 p.m.: Chelsea Cutler performs John Lennon’s “Imagine”
11:59 p.m.: The 60-Second Countdown
12:00 a.m.: “2023” sign illuminated at the top of One Times Square, alongside confetti release and pyrotechnic effects
12:15 a.m.: End of show
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