The New Year doesn’t really begin until the Waterford crystal-encrusted ball drops in Times Square. But as popular as the tradition is, attending it in person can be an expensive (and stressful) affair.
Why spend New Year’s Eve surrounded by drunk strangers, though, when you can surround yourself with friends (and champagne or Prosecco)? It’s warmer. The food’s better. And there are a myriad of ways to watch the ball drop—even if you’re far away from a television screen.
Looking for a way to watch remotely? Here’s how to live stream the 2019 New Year’s Eve countdown and ball drop for free.
What TV channels will air the ball drop in Times Square on New Years Eve
If you don’t have a cable or satellite subscription, it’s still pretty easy to watch the ball drop on your big screen TV for free with a good HD antenna. Local and regional broadcasts by CBS, NBC and Fox mean you’ve got a good chance of capturing the festivities over the air, which costs nothing beyond the equipment prices. Be sure to test your HD antenna in multiple locations in your home to find the most reliable signal.
Here are some of the ceremonies you can catch.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest (ABC)
The most well-known of the New Year’s Eve broadcasts starts at 8 p.m. ET, though co-host Jenny McCarthy won’t be taking part this year. This will be broadcast over the air, but if you’re not near a TV, you can watch the coverage on the Watch ABC mobile app or on the network’s website, ABC.go.com. You will, however, need a cable subscription to watch on either of those platforms.
NBC’s New Year’s Eve (NBC)
Carson Daly, Chrissy Teigen, and Leslie Jones oversee the countdown, which airs from 10-11 p.m. ET and 11:30 p.m.-12:30 p.m. ET. You can watch either over the air or, if you have a cable/satellite subscription, on NBC’s website, NBC.com/live.
New Year’s Eve With Steve Harvey (Fox)
The multi-media star will have acts ranging from Sting to Snoop Dogg on the show, which starts at 8:00 p.m. ET. Free options to view it include ABC News Live, ABCNews.com, Facebook Watch and the ABC News app.
New Year’s Eve With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (CNN)
The cable network pairs its best-known anchor with the Bravo host for the third year starting at 8:00 p.m. ET. A live stream will be available on CNN.com’s homepage and on mobile devices via CNN’s iOS and Android apps. It can also be viewed on CNNgo and the CNNgo apps for Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire, Chromecast and Android TV. The network is waiving the requirement for a login with a cable subscription for this special.
Where can I stream the ball drop online for free—even without a cable subscription?
- Sling TV – Dish Network’s Sling is one of the OG cord cutter options. It has an extensive selection of ESPN options in its lower tiered “Orange” plan. That will run you $25 per month, but you won’t get Fox Sports in that bundle. (For that, you’ll also need to subscribe to Sling’s “Blue” plan, which bumps the cost to $40-per-month.) You’ll have a 7-day free trial first.
- AT&T TVNow – Formerly known as DirecTV Now, AT&T’s streaming service will run you $65 per month and up after a 7-day free trial.
- Hulu with Live TV – You can try the service free for a week. Once that’s up, you’ll pay $45 per month.
- YouTube TV – After a seven day trial, you can expect monthly charges of $50.
Webcams
Times Square wants to have as many people watching its most iconic event as possible. So they offer a few live Webcasts for people to enjoy without the ebullient hosts.
You can also watch via social media on the Times Square Facebook and Twitter pages.