Lady Gaga Performing At Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2012 (2 VIDEO)

Lady Gaga performed in Times Square during the New Year's Eve telecast on ABC.

When it was time to enter 2012, ABC was the TV destination for most viewers.

The 40th anniversary of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” drew 22.6 million viewers from 11:35 p.m. to 12:32 a.m., ABC announced this afternoon.

The full title of that hour was “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2012 – Part 1.” ABC’s telecast featured Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber.

ABC trumpeted that “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” is the network’s No. 2 special, behind only the Academy Awards.

If it had been in prime time, the 11:35 p.m. telecast would be the No. 1 non-sports show in total viewers and the 18-to-49 age group for the week, ABC projected. We’ll know for sure later this week.