CNN is officially cut off: Network scales back the booze on New Year’s Eve broadcast
In a new look on the network’s website for New Year’s Eve, CNN is once again telling viewers it will air a live broadcast from Times Square on New Year’s Eve — but instead of offering a few shots of champagne for the viewing audience, CNN will air a few “stories” instead.
In a story first published by Entertainment Weekly during the holidays, CNN explained that the live event will feature a “story” called “What’s Inside That Suitcase?” that is being filmed with some of New York’s “first responders” and “tales of life under quarantine.” The report also teased a teaser video that will be shown to viewers during the broadcast.
The network’s online coverage of New Year’s Eve does not offer any live coverage, although it does include a countdown clock of when the clock will reach 9:30 and 11:30 p.m. in Times Square.
“As CNN is not hosting a live broadcast of the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration,” an inside source told E! News, “once we were assured that the event was still happening in the city, we will be offering a special report on the celebration.”
New Year’s Eve at Times Square has been a tradition for more than a hundred years, with various entertainers performing until 1 a.m., but on New Year’s Eve, CNN is taking the live broadcast to the next level. The live broadcast is not airing on CNN.com, but instead will be offered via its YouTube channel.
When the broadcast airs on Jan. 1, it will be the first time CNN has carried a live broadcast from Times Square since the first New Year’s Eve at Times Square in 1938, when it hosted a live broadcast with live performances by such entertainers as Harry Belafonte and Eddie Fisher that lasted into the wee hours of the morning the following day.
A Times Square New Year’s Eve broadcast has been rumored for years, but had been avoided by media outlets for fear that it would be viewed as a media event.
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