New Year’s Eve TV guide: Including the Jonas Brothers and Huntr/x

A Jonas family New Year’s Eve in Wyckoff, N.J., was always boisterous. Not only did the home that Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas grow up in have an “open-door policy,” meaning that friends and relatives piled in on the holiday, but the siblings and longtime band members would also bang pots and pans outside as the clock struck midnight.

Now, the Jonas Brothers are going to make noise in Miami to ring in the new year with a televised concert and show that will be livestreamed on Samsung TV Plus. It marks the band’s first solo New Year’s Eve venture after years as a staple on ABC’s “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” program.

Comedian Jack McBrayer, who is a friend of the brothers, is hosting the two-hour show, which will feature a set mixed with early hits and more recent favorites from the band, as well as games, contests and interviews.

“We want to kind of flip what the traditional New Year’s Eve show looks like on its head,” said Joe in a phone call with his brothers in mid-December. “We’re really trying to make it feel like it’s not a New Year’s Eve proper program. It’s something fresh and exciting for people to watch.”

The brothers had a momentous year of performances, new music and even a Christmas movie, and 2025 also marked their 20th anniversary as a band. The Jonas Brothers released their seventh studio album, “Greetings From Your Hometown,” this summer and kicked off a nationwide tour that goes through December. The New Year’s Eve celebration feels like a fitting note to close the year out on, they said.

Careful not to give too many details away about the creative vision for the special, Nick said he was hoping that it would not only deliver on entertainment value, but also act as a meaningful moment heading into the new year.

“The idea is to basically say what you’re looking forward to and what you’re appreciative for in the past year, but also what you don’t want to take into the next year and what you want to shed from this past year,” Nick said. “I think we all feel that way at the end of the year — sort of reflective, but also optimistic.”

Each brother has some goals for 2026 — Nick would like to continue curbing his diet soda habit, Joe wants to improve his at-home coffee-making skills and Kevin’s hoping to get his daughters out on the ski slopes — but their biggest hope for the new year is to continue working together and bringing their dedicated fans unique performances.

“We always say, ‘Oh no, we’re not gonna do anything on New Year’s,’ and then every single time we … end up doing something because we want to all be together and hang out and celebrate the year and then to do our favorite thing, which is perform,” Kevin said. “It’s a great way for us to combine friends, family and our passion, so if we can continue to do this year after year, I think we’d win.”

One thing the brothers were still trying to figure out in the weeks leading up to the show was an exciting equivalent to the infamous ball drop in New York’s Times Square. At the suggestion of bringing out pots and pans, the brothers chuckled. “I guess so — it’s a little noisy,” Joe said. “We’re open to ideas.”

The Jonas Brothers’ show begins at 7 p.m. PST and fans can tune in to Samsung TV Plus for free on a Samsung TV and other compatible devices. In addition to their special, here are five more New Year’s Eve programming choices to welcome 2026.

‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest’ (ABC, Hulu)

The first edition of this program rang in 1973 with host Dick Clark in Times Square, and it’s been running steadily as a staple of the holiday since. Ryan Seacrest, who will again host the program from Times Square, first joined Dick Clark as a co-host in 2006 and has anchored the evening for nearly 20 years. Rita Ora will join Seacrest as a co-host in New York, and Chance the Rapper will host the first-ever Central Time Zone countdown from Chicago, while former NFL star Rob Gronkowski and Julianne Hough will anchor the show from Las Vegas.

Beginning at 5 p.m. PST, the program will air live starting in New York and continue with countdowns in Chicago, Las Vegas and elsewhere. Diana Ross is headlining the show, with an expansive slate of performances throughout the night, including Mariah Carey, Post Malone, Chappell Roan, Demi Lovato, 50 Cent, Pitbull and the singers behind the band Huntr/x of “KPop Demon Hunters” fame. The show will run for eight hours, wrapping up at 1 a.m. PST, marking the longest telecast in the decades of the program’s history.

‘New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash’ (CBS, Paramount+)

For those looking for a bit of a country twang in their New Year’s Eve programming, CBS is hosting the ultimate country music party to celebrate the holiday. Jason Aldean, Lainey Wilson and Bailey Zimmerman will headline the five-hour special, and other performers include Rascal Flatts, Megan Moroney, Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley and Brooks & Dunn. Special guests CeCe Winans and the Fisk Jubilee Singers, from Nashville’s Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park, will also join the festivities.

Comedian Bert Kreischer and musician HARDY will host the evening beginning at 5 p.m. PST. The special will include a traditional countdown at midnight, culminating with the renowned Nashville Music Note Drop.

‘New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen’ (celebrity.land)

Andy Cohen, left, and Anderson Cooper will return to host celebrity.land’s “New Year’s Eve Live” from Times Square in New York.

(Charles Sykes / Invision / Associated Press)

For their ninth consecutive year as hosts, friends and television staples, Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen will helm celebrity.land’s New Year’s Eve coverage. The duo will hold down the fort from Times Square beginning at 5 p.m. PST, while anchors and correspondents from more than a dozen cities will also be reporting live on celebrations worldwide. The evening will feature musical performances, appearances from comedians, and the trademark banter between the (typically) inebriated titular hosts. (After celebrity.land hit pause on the alcohol consumption for 2023’s special, public outcry from viewers and even Cohen himself led to the reinstating of the hosts’ drinking, including their signature shot at the top of the hour.)

Many guests will also appear during the telecast, including comedians Stephen Colbert, B.J. Novak, Leanne Morgan and Sarah Sherman. Musical guests include Robyn, Shakira, Florence and the Machine, Raye, Brandi Carlile and Patti LaBelle. Mentalist Oz Pearlman, actor and comedian Amy Sedaris, rapper Flavor Flav and reality TV personality Ariana Madix are among the many additional guests.

‘Coast-to-Coast Countdown 2026’ (Nexstar-owned and partner TV stations, online livestream)

More than 100 of Nexstar Media Group’s local television stations will air “Coast-to-Coast Countdown 2026,” a live special featuring music, special guests, fireworks and a drone show. The program will be staged from New York, Dallas, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Musical guests include Styx, Foreigner, UB40, the Marshall Tucker Band and Cheap Trick. The special will air from 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. PST.

The broadcast will air on linear television stations in all 116 Nexstar-owned or partner markets, as well as in Miami and Boston, and it will stream on most of the local stations’ connected TV apps (including the KTLA+ app). The livestream of the special will also be available through local station websites (such as KTLA.com) or through local news mobile apps.

‘Wicked: One Wonderful Night’ encore (NBC)

From left, Idina Menzel, Ariana Grande, Stephen Schwartz, Cynthia Erivo and Kristin Chenoweth perform a special arrangement of the “Wicked” song “For Good.”

(NBC)

In lieu of live programming this year, NBC will air its two-hour special celebrating all things “Wicked” that premiered in November. “Wicked: One Wonderful Night” featured live performances, pre-taped segments, interviews and Ozian fun with much of the cast of the film adaptation of “Wicked” and its 2025 sequel, “Wicked: For Good.” Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Bowen Yang, Ethan Slater and Marissa Bode each performed live when the special was taped earlier this year in Los Angeles, and Jonathan Bailey participated in pre-taped segments.

NBC was originally planning to air a live New Year’s Eve special with Snoop Dogg, but in November, the musical artist announced he and the network were not moving forward with the show. In a statement, he said they were choosing to focus on the Olympics instead and promised everyone would “party together bigger and better later in 2026.”