ABC News’ Primetime Special ‘THE YEAR: 2025’ Earns Nearly 4 Million Total Viewers – Growing by Double Digits Over Last Year in Multiplatform Viewing

Hosted by “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts, ABC News’ two-hour Primetime Special “THE YEAR: 2025” (Monday, Dec. 29, 8:00-10:00 p.m. EST) brought audiences an expansive look at the moments that shaped 2025 through the stories that sparked conversation, captured global attention, and defined our cultural landscape.

• The 15th annual year-end special earned 3.857 million Total Viewers, growing impressively over last year’s performance by +37% (vs. 2.818 million), after three days of viewing on ABC, Disney+, Hulu and digital platforms.
• On linear, ABC News’ primetime special ranked as the No. 1 program in primetime on Monday (excluding sports) in Total Viewers (3.695 million) and Adults 25-54 (584,000), based on Live+3 Day Big Data+Panel Program Ratings from Nielsen Media Research.
• The special improved on its year-ago performance by double digits across the board: Total Viewers (+35% – 3.695 million vs. 2.734 million), Adults 25-54 (+25% – 584,000 vs. 467,000) and Adults 18-49 (+21% – 417,000 vs. 346,000). In fact, “THE YEAR” drew its largest overall audience in 8 years — since the 2017 edition on 12/19/17.
• ABC News’ “THE YEAR: 2025” more than doubled NBC’s “Year in Review 2025” (12/11/25) in Total Viewers (+114% – 3.695 million vs. 1.725 million), while nearly doubling in Adults 25-54 (+71% – 584,000 vs. 341,000) and Adults 18-49 (+97% – 417,000 vs. 212,000) on linear.
• ABC News’ “THE YEAR: 2025” ranked No. 5 (out of 40) in Total Viewers among ABC News Next Day titles (excluding politics) since 2024 to date.    

“THE YEAR: 2025” is produced by ABC News Studios. John R. Green is executive producer, John Palacio is senior broadcast producer, and Danielle Genet and Caitlyn Owens are coordinating producers. David Sloan is senior executive producer.

Source: Nielsen, Live+3 Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings and ABC Multiplatform+3 Day data for 12/29/25. Averages include Out of Home Viewing.  Beginning 12/26/22, averages are based on Big Data Plus Panel ratings.  Beginning 8/31/20, national ratings also include Out of Home (OOH) viewing. Prior to 8/31/20, ratings did not include OOH viewing.

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