Fox TV changes things up and goes country for New Year’s Eve

• Reprints

Country singer Rodney Atkins performs at Shea's Buffalo Theater on Friday, Dec. 16, 2011. (AP Photo/The Buffalo News, Harry Scull Jr.)

Article Extras

Updated: January 31, 2012 8:05AM

Fox is betting country music fans will want to ring in 2012 with its New Year’s Eve broadcast from the Las Vegas Strip.

Airing from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. on WFLD-Channel 32, “American Country New Year’s Eve Live” features performances by country acts Joe Nichols, Rodney Atkins, Lauren Alaina, Toby Keith and the Eli Young Band.

The program, set at Sin City’s Mandalay Bay resort, is hosted by comedian Rodney Carrington alongside “Pawn Stars” Rick Harrison and Austin “Chumlee” Russell.

The network made an 11th-hour decision to dump the usual pop/hip-hop programming after the success of this year’s American Country Awards, which aired on Fox Dec. 5. The next day, executive producer Bob Bain got a call from a Fox executive suggesting they go country on New Year’s Eve.

“We had to completely retool the show in two weeks,” said Bain, who didn’t mind the extra work if it meant the possibility of attracting a new audience — and luring some eyeballs away from ABC’s long-time juggernaut “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” celebrating its 40th anniversary.

“They [ABC] are doing some astronomical number of hours this year and they’ve booked just about every pop act known to man,” Bain said. “Combine that with what we see as a very loyal and untapped country audience, and it made perfect sense to give this a shot to stand out.”

Other ways to count down to 2012:

† You never know what will happen when CNN pairs up Anderson Cooper and that firecracker of a comedian Kathy Griffin, who recently told Piers Morgan that her goal for this year’s two-hour New Year’s Eve special (10 p.m.) “is to make the screen turn into a bar code.” Also on Griffin’s “to do” list: drunk dial Wolf Blitzer and slip Cooper a roofie. If she really wants to mess with Cooper, she should just mention Gerard Depardieu.

† It’s a supersized helping of Dick Clark (and Ryan Seacrest) as ABC celebrates 40 years of rockin’ New Year’s Eve coverage, starting at 7 p.m. with a trip down “Rockin’ Eve’s” memory lane. Mother McAuley grad Jenny McCarthy and Fergie host the two-hour anniversary special. Performers throughout the night include Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, LMFAO, the Band Perry, Taio Cruz, Pitbull, Gym Class Heroes, Florence + the Machine and will.i.am. The Clark-a-thon continues for Chicagoans until shortly after the ball drops in Times Square. At 11:08 p.m., WLS-Channel 7 brings the party home with the city’s only live, local New Year’s Eve countdown. Mark Giangreco and Janet Davies host the hourlong special, featuring Navy Pier fireworks, local musicians and the chance to spot people you know making drunken fools of themselves at high-priced parties. At 12:15 a.m., the network goes back to New York for two more hours of “Rockin’ Eve.”

† Carson Daly does his annual Times Square countdown for NBC starting at 9 p.m. Jimmy Fallon will bust out some jokes by the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree during Daly’s two-hour special (punctuated by a half-hour break for the evening news), and Drake, Jessie J, the Roots, Tony Bennett and Cee-Lo Green will perform. Keep in mind that by the time it’s midnight in Chicago, Daly’s show will be over and WMAQ-Channel 5 viewers will be ringing in the New Year with a “Saturday Night Live” rerun.

† Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly and Bill Hemmer host the cable network’s “All American New Year” from 10 to 11:30 p.m. The Fox newsies are joined by country music stars Trace Adkins and Big & Rich, as well as the cast of the Tony Award-nominated “Rock of Ages.”

† Clear some space for a dance floor in your living room and get ready to beat up the beats with MTV’s “NYE in NYC 2012” (10 p.m.). Demi Lovato and “Teen Wolf’s” Tyler Posey host the high-energy dance party, with performances by Selena Gomez, J. Cole, Jason Derulo and Mac Miller. I have no idea who those last three people are, which probably means I’m too old for this show.

† British rock band Coldplay cranks out the hits, old and new, during an “Austin City Limits” installment starting after midnight at 12:30 a.m. on WTTW-Channel 11. Note to purists: This New Year’s Eve special was taped in September.