REGIS PHILBIN RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR WITH THREE SPECIALS ON ABC, DECEMBER 31

Primetime Special to be Followed by Two Late-Night Specials; Ashlee Simpson to Co-host and Perform

TV talk show host Regis Philbin ("Live with Regis & Kelly") will fill in as host of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005. The program, now it its 33rd consecutive year, has become the television viewing tradition for bringing in the New Year annually. Philbin will lead the festivities when he hosts three specials starting at 10:00 p.m. ET, on Friday, December 31, on the ABC Television Network. In all there will be three-and-a-half hours of special New Year's Eve programming, and recording star Ashlee Simpson will co-host and perform.

"Dick Clark's Primetime New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005" will air from 10:00-11:00 p.m., ET, with Philbin reporting "live" on the festivities in Times Square, New York, and looking back at the last year. Joining him will be correspondents Catherine McCord (former co-host of "Loveline" and model) and Mike Richards (former host of "High School Reunion" series and a reporter for "Extra" and the "American Music Awards"), who will report on other happenings in and around New York City.

During "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005, Part 1" (11:35 p.m.-1:05 a.m., ET), Philbin will report on the final minutes of the year 2004 and make the traditional Times Square countdown to midnight. He will be joined by recording star Ashlee Simpson, who will preside over segments of the show from Hollywood and introduce top recording artists Billy Idol, Big & Rich, Ciara, Fabolous, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan and Earth, Wind & Fire. Simpson will offer additional performances, and McCord and Richards will continue to check out other goings-on in the Big Apple and New Year's celebrations throughout the world.

Wrapping up the night's activities will be "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005, Part 2" (1:05.-2:05 a.m., ET). Simpson will bring back the aforementioned performers in this hour, and will also sing another hit.

This year's scheduled performances include: Billy Idol sings his rock classic, "White Wedding," and his forthcoming single, "Scream"; Big & Rich singing their giant 2004 hit, "Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)," "Love Train" and "Rollin' (The Ballad of Big & Rich)" from their current Top 10 Country platinum album; Good Charlotte perform their current single "I Just Wanna Live," their 2002 hit, "The Anthem," and "The World is Black," a cut from their current album; Ciara sings her current Top 15 crossover hit, "1, 2 Step" and her recent chart-topper, "Goodies"; Fabolous offers his current Top 10 Pop/R&B crossover hit, "Breathe," and his newest release, "Baby"; Simple Plan offers their current chart hit, "Welcome to my Life," and their Top 10 single of last year, "Addicted"; Earth, Wind & Fire perform a medley of three of their biggest hits, "Shining Star," "Let's Groove Tonight" and "September," as well as "This is How I Feel," a song from their forthcoming album, and fusion saxophonist Kenny G is joined by Earth Wind & Fire when they sing "The Way You Move." Ashlee Simpson sings her breakthrough 2004 hit, "Pieces of Me," as well as two songs from her debut album, "Lala" and "Autobiography."

The special is a dick clark productions, inc. presentation, with Clark serving as executive producer. Larry Klein produces and Barry Glazer directs. New York segments are directed by Bob McKinnon. Writer is Barry Adelman. Production designer is Bruce Ryan. Executive in charge of production is Bob Bardo. Executive in charge of talent is Amy Striebel. Fran La Maina is Executive in charge.