Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, one of the world’s most popular Fortnite streamers on Twitch.tv, will be hosting his own New Year’s Eve show live from the third floor of the Paramount Building in Times Square to his 13 million followers on Twitch and 20 million subscribers on YouTube. “It’s a new era of gaming. And a new era of New Year’s Eve,” said Blevins. He’s expecting about a million concurrent viewers when the stream goes live from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. Eastern time. Read more for another video and additional information.
If this event is successful, Ninja’s stream will mark another big cultural milestone; as more viewers turn to the internet to watch a popular gamer on Twitch rather than network television for the traditional ball drop, bringing the age of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” to an end. “My parents watched Dick Clark when I was a kid, while I played video games in the basement. It’s New Year’s Eve in Times Square. It’s culturally bigger here. And the ball is awesome,” Blevins told the Washington Post.
“To be sure, the event will bring more success to Blevins, who is estimated to make more than $500,000 a month, based on paid subscriptions to his Twitch and YouTube channels, as well as sponsorship deals. But this event hasn’t been without its drama. Other prominent Twitch streamers, like Dr. Disrespect, have reportedly been complaining that Blevins’ face has been rolling on ads on their channels in the lead-up to his New Year’s Eve stream,” according to Huff Post.
