NBC has broadcast coverage of New Year's Eve festivities since the 1940s, the majority of which focusing on the "ball drop" event at New York City's Times Square . NBC's coverage was initially anchored by Ben Grauer, airing in simulcast on NBC radio and television. Eschewing a standalone special, its coverage would later become part of special New Year's Eve episodes of NBC's late-night talk show The Tonight Show. This arrangement lasted through the tenure of Johnny Carson, and continued into the tenure of Carson's successor Jay Leno.
A notable exception was 1972–73 and 1973–74, which saw NBC air the first two editions of the Dick Clark-produced New Year's Rockin' Eve before it moved to ABC. For 1999–2000, NBC News presented special primetime coverage anchored by Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric. For 2004–05, NBC introduced a special hosted by former MTV personality Carson Daly, New Year's Eve with Carson Daly, which took over midnight coverage from The Tonight Show beginning in 2005–06. After going on hiatus in 2017–18 due to conflicts with Sunday Night Football, the show returned for 2018–19 as NBC's New Year's Eve, co-hosted by Daly and Chrissy Teigen. For 2019–20, Julianne Hough and tWitch joined Daly as correspondents, with Amber Ruffin replacing Hough for 2020–21.
In November 2021, NBC announced that it would introduce a new Lorne Michaels-produced special from Miami for 2021–22, Miley's New Year's Eve Party, hosted by singer Miley Cyrus and Saturday Night Live cast member Pete Davidson. The special returned for 2022–23, with country singer and Cyrus's godmother Dolly Parton as co-host.
In recent years, the primetime lineup preceding NBC's main special has been occupied by an NBC News-produced retrospective special, A Toast to (Year), which is currently co-hosted by Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager of the fourth hour of Today.