As we get ready for the ball to drop Saturday night in New York City's Times Square, here are five things to know about TV's New Year's Eve celebrations:
• The first New Year's Eve special on TV was broadcast Dec. 31, 1941, on WNBT (now WNBC), consisting of entertainment from the Rainbow Room, atop the RCA Building in Rockefeller Center.
• Before Dick Clark became synonymous with New Year's Eve, that honor went to bandleader Guy Lombardo. After many years on radio, he hosted New Year's Eve shows from 1956 to 1976 on CBS. It was he who made "Auld Lang Syne" into the New Year's Eve song.
• In 1972, Clark came up with the idea of counterprogramming the older-skewing Lombardo. He produced "Three Dog Night's New Year's Rockin' Eve 1973," on NBC. The special also featured Blood, Sweat & Tears, Helen Reddy and Al Green.
• Clark's "New Year's Rockin' Eve" debut on ABC was Dec. 31, 1974. Performers included the Beach Boys, Chicago and Olivia Newton-John.
• "New Year's Rockin' Eve" was pre-empted in 1999-2000 in favor of ABC's 24-hour coverage of the worldwide celebrations of the new millennium.
