New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash featured a star-studded lineup of performers. Artists like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lainey Wilson, Blake Shelton, Carly Pearce, and plenty more helped ring in 2024 at the Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park in Music City. New data shows that millions tuned in to watch the show. As a result, it was the highest-rated country music program of the year.
Music Row reports that more than 8 million viewers tuned in to watch Nashville’s Big Bash on CBS. It was the most-watched country music program of the year, drawing more viewers than the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Awards, People’s Choice Country Awards, and other country shows.
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The New Year’s Eve special also drew a record-breaking in-person crowd with about 215,000 fans ringing in the New Year.
Nashville’s Big Bash‘s ratings were more than double its audience from the previous year, making it the most-watched entertainment special since last year’s Grammy Awards broadcast.
Big Bash Brings Big Stars
It’s easy to see why the New Year’s Eve special drew so many viewers. The lineup was full of the heaviest of country music’s heavy hitters. Wilson, Shelton, Trace Adkins, Morgan Wallen, HARDY, Elle King, and many more performed during the broadcast.
However, it was Wilson, the CMA Entertainer of the Year, who stole the show. The second half of Nashville’s Big Bash saw the Louisiana native return to the stage multiple times to sing some of her biggest hits and best-loved songs.
Wilson’s setlist included “Grease,” “Heart Like a Truck,” “Wildflowers and Wild Horses,” “Watermelon Moonshine,” “Smell Like Smoke,” her breakout hit “Things a Man Oughta Know,” and more.
All in all, it was a great way for fans to ring in the New Year. Additionally, the numbers prove what many have already stated: 2023 was a fantastic year for country music.
Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images
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