These days, he says, he just reports to the studio in Times Square at 9 p.m.

These days, he says, he just reports to the studio in Times Square at 9 p.m.

A stroke in 2004 profoundly changed Mr. Clark’s life, as well as his role on “Rockin’ Eve,” which is by far the country’s most popular televised countdown at the tail end of each year. He appears for a few segments around midnight while his protégé Ryan Seacrest runs the show.

But Mr. Clark and his countdown show remain synonymous with New Year’s Eve; this year, for its 40th anniversary, the show he created will take over nearly six hours of the ABC network, its most ever.





The two new hours, from 8 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, are billed as an anniversary party and will include a tribute to Mr. Clark, who turned 82 a month ago. “It’s our way of looking back on 40 years,” said Mark Shapiro, the chief executive of Dick Clark Productions, who added that he hoped the expansion would become permanent.

Asked if the on-air tribute were an indication that this might be Mr. Clark’s last year on “Rockin’ Eve,” Mr. Shapiro said, “That’s a great question, and the only one that knows that answer is Dick himself.”
Later, when asked if this year would indeed be his last, Mr. Clark answered in an e-mail, “I hope not.”
Such speculation has surrounded Mr. Clark ever since he had the stroke a few weeks before New Year’s in 2004.