The ratings have just come out for both Kohaku and Gaki no Tsukai, who finished 1st and 2nd as usual. However, both programs performed poorer compared to last year. This year, the Kohaku singing competition attracted an audience of 34.8% for the first half and 39.2% for the second half, down from its 35.1%/42.2% result for both halves last year. It is the fourth time in their history they have failed to reach 40% in ratings, the first time since 2007 they have failed to get 40% (when the 2nd half recorded only 39.5%) and also the result is their worst ratings in their 62 years of the Kohaku singing competition (the previous worst was 2004's Kohaku with 39.3%).
As for Gaki no Tsukai, it finished 2nd in New Year's Eve programming for the 6th year in a row but it was also down on last year's result, getting 17.6% for the first half and 15.3% for the 2nd half, down from its 18.7%/16.0% rating last year. The first half of the Gaki no Tsukai broadcast was the 4th most watched in their history, but the 2nd half of the batsu was their 2nd worst result behind 2010's No Laughing Spy which got 14.3% for its 2nd half.
Note: all ratings are for the Kanto region, which is considered more important when it comes to ratings for Japanese television.
Sources:
http://www.sponichi.co.jp/entertainment ... 92260.html (Gaki result)
http://www.nikkansports.com/entertainme ... 86895.html (Kohaku result)
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%91 ... E.E9.80.81 (for a full table of the batsu games and ratings results)