Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen to return for ninth New Year’s Eve special

CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage will be helmed by anchor Anderson Cooper and TV personality Any Cohen for the ninth year in a row.

“CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” will air live from Times Square in New York City on Dec. 31, 2025, with the pair taking over at 8 p.m. Eastern.

They will remain on air until 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1, 2026.

In addition to Cooper and Cohen’s special, CNN is also planning rolling coverage of the festivities starting at 7 a.m. Dec. 31.

All coverage will be available via CNN All Access as well as the network’s connected TV, mobile and smart TV apps. Pay television subscribers will be able to log in with their credentials to stream coverage.

Nearly two dozen CNN anchors and correspondents will contribute live reports and performances from several cities around the world as they ring in the new year.

Throughout the day John Berman and Becky Anderson will report live from Abu Dhabi and Kristie Lu Stout and Will Ripley will bring live coverage from Bangkok. Laura Coates and Isa Soares will pick up at 2:45 p.m. from London with Boris Sanchez joining live from the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Throughout the day, CNN will broadcast performances from Hugh Jackman, Kate Hudson, OK Go, Flo Rida, Aly & AJ, Burna Boy and Cheat Codes with Cee Lo Green.

The Cooper-Cohen special at 8 p.m, will feature music, comedy and some surprise guests, including Stephen Colbert, Robyn performing live from Times Square, Shakira performing from Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, Brandy and Monica from The BPC (Black Promoters Collective) The Boy Is Mine Tour, Bryan Adams from Madison Square Garden, Florence + The Machine, RAYE, mentalist Oz Perlman, Amy Sedaris, Singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile, Aloe Blacc, Patti LaBelle, Grammy and Tony-nominated singer and songwriter Michelle Williams, Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O’Connell, comedians B.J. Novak, Leanne Morgan, Sarah Sherman and more.

Advertisement

Throughout the night, CNN reporters provide live coverage of celebrations across the country, including Richard Quest from the crowds in Times Square, Randi Kaye from New Orleans, Stephanie Elam from Atlantis, Paradise Island in the Bahamas, Isabel Rosales from Greater Lauderdale, Florida, and Harry Enten from Prescott, Arizona.

At 12:30 a.m. Jan. 1, CNN’s Sara Sidner, and Cari Champion will take over the celebration, counting down to the new year as the Central Time Zone rings in 2026 from Auditorium Shores in Austin, Texas, with performances by country singer Vince Gill and The Head and The Heart and interviews with Flavor Flav and Ariana Madix.

CNN will also dispatch Angus Watson in Sydney, Hanako Montgomery in Tokyo, Mike Valerio in Harbin, Bijan Hosseini in Hong Kong, Melissa Bell in Paris, Victoria Rubadiri in Luanda, Atika Shubert in Madrid, Max Foster in Edinburgh, Julia Vargas Jones in Rio de Janeiro, Lynda Kinkade in Nashville, Omar Jimenez from Clarksdale, Mississippi, Elex Michaelson and Coy Wire from Pasadena, California, and Victor Blackwell in New York City’s Times Square.