Credit: Unsplash
It helps to have visual proof this year is over.
Every year since I was a child, I’d do my absolute best to stay up and watch the ball drop in Times Square on New Year’s Eve. I don’t think I need to explain how much fun it is to just watch a big, sparkly ball lower itself down onto a gigantic building in my favorite city. Thing is, when I was a kid, I had access to cable TV, but these days, everyone’s cutting their cords and sticking exclusively with streaming. Don’t get me wrong, I’m fine without cable every other day of the year, but I still need a way to watch that ball drop, and if you’re reading this, I imagine you do as well. Luckily, there are other ways to see that sparkly orb make its journey.
If your watching method of choice involves a big show with lots of musical acts, you can still watch one of the major celebrations through streaming services. One of the most prolific shows, Dick Clarke’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, hosted as always by Ryan Seacrest, usually only airs on ABC, but if you have cable-adjacent streaming services like Fubo TV, you can stream the event there. Even if you don’t, Fubo TV offers a free trial, so you can just get that, watch the show, then unsubscribe.
Fact: The New York Times invented the Times Square Ball Drop in 1907. https://t.co/tYbqh2vVeV pic.twitter.com/iWmr8Xon0D
— NYT Archives (@NYTArchives) December 31, 2020
If you don’t mind the festivities being a little more straightforward, the official Times Square website runs their own webcast of the event. It doesn’t cost anything to watch, and you can watch it on a PC, phone, or tablet. Just visit their site when the show starts, and you’ve got a front-row seat.
This year’s celebration will probably be somewhat muted compared to the celebrations of the past for the obvious reason, but you can still watch that glorious ball do its thing at the appointed time, and start crossing your fingers that 2021 will be slightly less horrible.
