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Millions of Canadians spent New Year’s Eve with CBC

CBC’s December 31 lineup saw audience growth across multiple platforms

Audiences across Canada turned to CBC to welcome the new year on Wednesday, December 31, contributing to growth on multiple platforms. CBC’s original programming across broadcast, streaming and radio offered Canadians the opportunity to laugh, celebrate and count down to midnight in all six time zones across the country.  

  • CBC’s New Year’s Eve lineup - including the 22 Minutes New Year’s Eve Pregame Special and CBC News’ second annual special, Live Cross-Canada Countdown - reached a combined 5.7 million viewers, an increase of 19 per cent over last year’s lineup. 
  • The 22 Minutes New Year’s Eve Pregame Special reached just over 1.1 million viewers on CBC TV, an increase of 10 per cent compared to last year’s 22 Minutes New Year’s Eve Special.
  • Engaged video views of the episode on YouTube increased by 147 per cent compared to last year’s New Year’s Eve special.
  • Live Cross-Canada Countdown reached a combined 5.3 million viewers across CBC TV and CBC News Network, up 16 per cent over last year’s countdown and making it the most-watched Canadian English New Year’s Eve special on television. 
  • The countdown special garnered increases on CBC video streaming platforms compared with last year’s special: up 93 per cent in total time spent on CBC Gem and up 154 per cent in live views on CBC News’ YouTube channel.
  • Based on engaged views, the special was the highest live stream of 2025 across CBC YouTube channels. 
  • On CBC Radio, more than half a million listeners tuned in to the special throughout the night. 

Sources: 

CBC TV: Numeris TV Meter, December 31,2025/January 1, 2026, CBC Total, CBC News Network, P2+, Reach & Cume Reach, generated by InstarAnalytics, Unconfirmed/Overnight Audience Data.

YouTube: CBC News Channel, December 31, 2025-January 1, 2026 LIVE ONLY, comparison dates to December 31, 2024 -January 1, 2025 LIVE ONLY.

CBC Gem: Source: Adobe Analytics, CBC production, CBC Regional Channels, CBC News Network & Canada Live Countdown Stream: 8pm EST 12/31/24 - 4am EST 1/1/26, 8pm EST 12/31/24 - 4am EST 1/1/25, Metric: Content Time Spent. 

Radio: Numeris Radio PPM, Total Canada, CBC Radio One, Wednesday, December 31, 2025, 9p-4:30a AT, 9p-3:30a ET, 9p-2:30a CT, 9p-1:30a MT & 9p-12:30a PT,  P2+, Reach, Unconfirmed.

 

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