Following his arrival at the network from
MTV (where he had also hosted
New Year's specials),
Carson Daly had personally expressed an interest in participating in other ventures for NBC alongside his new late night program
Last Call with Carson Daly, including the idea of producing a New Year's Eve special for the network. The first edition of the special, known as '''''New Year's Eve with Carson Daly''''', premiered for New Year's Eve 2004–05. Discussing the special, Daly said that it would be "a little smarter than MTV, yet cooler than Dick Clark". The inaugural special was hosted by Daly from the
Rockefeller Center, and featured performances by
Avril Lavigne,
Duran Duran, and
Maroon 5, along with special guest appearances by Brian Williams (
NBC Nightly News) and
Donald Trump (
The Apprentice). The special averaged a total of 4.5 million viewers, finishing third behind
Fox's ''New Year's Eve: Live from Times Square'' with
Ryan Seacrest (5.7 million), and ABC's ''Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve'' with guest host
Regis Philbin (7.9 million). The 2013–14 edition featured performances by
Mariah Carey and
Blake Shelton, and was co-hosted by
Jane Lynch. Guest
Natasha Leggero faced criticism over remarks regarding a controversial
tweet made by the
SpaghettiOs brand account on the anniversary of the
Pearl Harbor attack (which featured a cartoon SpaghettiO with a flag captioned "Take a moment to remember #PearlHarbor with us"), quipping that "it sucks that the only survivors of Pearl Harbor are being mocked by the only food they can still chew." Her remarks were met with an immediate backlash over social media; in response, Leggero stated in a blog entry that she would not apologize, arguing that "the amazing courage of American veterans and specifically those who survived Pearl Harbor is [not] in any way diminished by a comedian making a joke about
dentures on television", and that "I have more respect for Veterans than to think their honor can be impugned by a glamorous, charming comedian in a fur hat." She also called on those offended by the remarks to donate to
Disabled American Veterans. The 2013–14 edition saw ratings gains for the special; while it was still beaten overall by ''New Year's Rockin' Eve
, the primetime segment (which had A Toast to 2013
—a special hosted by Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb of Today''—as a lead-in) brought 50% higher ratings than the previous year, and the midnight coverage was up by 6%. For 2015–16, ''New Year's Eve with Carson Daly
was co-hosted by Andy Cohen (Watch What Happens Live) and shortened to only consist of the late-night portion airing at 11:30 p.m.; the 10:00 p.m. ET/PT hour was replaced by New Year’s Eve Game Night
—a special live episode of Hollywood Game Night hosted by Cohen. Mel B (America's Got Talent) co-hosted the 2016–17 edition, which included performances by Alicia Keys, Blake Shelton, and Pentatonix. The 10:00 p.m. hour featured a special primetime episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers, with guests Arnold Schwarzenegger (The New Celebrity Apprentice''),
Leslie Jones, and
Jennifer Lawrence. The special did not air for 2017–18; NBC was committed to air
Sunday Night Football for the final night of the
NFL regular season, carrying the game that carried the greatest implication on the playoffs. The NFL eventually chose not to schedule a primetime game at all, since there were no games that presented a clear "win or go home" scenario not affected by earlier games. NBC scheduled reruns of
Dateline and
The Wall in place of the game, and did not provide any national New Year's programming.
2018–2021: ''NBC's New Year's Eve'' The special returned for 2018–19 under the new title '''''NBC's New Year's Eve'''
, with Chrissy Teigen joining Daly as a co-host, alongside guest panelists Leslie Jones and Lester Holt (NBC Nightly News). The special featured performances by Jennifer Lopez, Kelly Clarkson, Andy Grammer, John Legend, Diana Ross, Blake Shelton, as well as Keith Urban and Brett Young from Nashville. The 2019 edition restored the primetime hour at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT, which was seen by 5.41 million viewers; including its lead-in, A Toast to 2018'', NBC sustained an average of 4.85 million viewers in primetime overall. The late-night portion received a 4.8 rating in metered markets. The 2019–20 edition featured
Julianne Hough (''America's Got Talent
) and Stephen "tWitch" Boss (The Ellen DeGeneres Show) as correspondents, and performances by Blake Shelton, Brett Eldredge, Leslie Odom Jr., Gwen Stefani, Ne-Yo, The Struts, X Ambassadors, and Keith Urban from Nashville. The program was seen by a total of 7.83 million viewers, approximately 2 percent less than from the year prior, and saw a decline in its demographic rating to 2.1. For the primetime hour, the program was seen by 5.31 million viewers, with 4.38 million watching its lead-in, A Toast to 2019'' with Hoda and
Jenna Bush Hager. The 2020–21 edition featured tWitch returning as a co-host with Daly, joined by comedian
Amber Ruffin. It featured performances by
AJR,
Busta Rhymes with
Anderson Paak,
Chloe X Halle,
CNCO,
Jason Derulo, the
Goo Goo Dolls,
Kylie Minogue, Pentatonix,
Bebe Rexha with
Doja Cat, Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, and
Sting with Shirazee. The late-night portion was seen by a total of 7.63 million viewers, a 6% decrease over 2020. NBC averaged 4.6 million viewers in primetime overall, which included the retrospective special ''New Year's Eve: Escape From 2020'', and the primetime hour of the main telecast. == ''Miley's New Year's Eve Party'' ==