Dick Clark Will Ring in Another Year 2012 [VIDEO PHOTOS]

Dick Clark, oldest teenager in the world, will countdown to our brand new year of 2012.

Dick Clark’s countdown to the New Year used to begin before dawn on New Year’s Eve, these days, he just reports to the studio in Times Square at 9 p.m.

A stroke in 2004 changed his life, and his role on “Rockin’ Eve,” the country’s most popular televised countdown. He appears for a few segments around midnight while his friend Ryan Seacrest pretty much runs the show.

But Dick Clark and his countdown show remain synonymous with New Year’s Eve. This year is the 40th anniversary, and will take over nearly six hours of the ABC network.

There are two new hours on Saturday, 8 to 10 p.m. and billed as an anniversary party. This 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.

Mr. Shapiro was 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 were indeed 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.