Discover Card 1999 Countdown

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This countdown has all footage available.

This page is considered as a stub, which means it does not have enough information. You can help the New Year's Media Database by expanding it.

## 1999 Countdown

The countdown background. Note that the "20" numerals are visible.

### Events

Times Square New Year's Eve 1998-1999

The **1999 Countdown** is the second digital countdown to be used on the 55-foot billboard where the Allied Chemical sign used to be.

## Design

The countdown starts with a big red ring with a rainbow light rotating clockwise behind the ring per second. There are also twelve white dots on the ring. For each second, a number zooms in, depending on if it spins or not. After each second, the number explodes.

When the countdown hits 0, the background turns darker, the Happy New Year sign pops up, and many confetti and orange and green rings fall down. The big red ring can barely be seen.

## Trivia

* This countdown marks the first of several things:
	+ The first countdown under the control of Discover Card.
	+ The first countdown to use CGI animation for the numerals.
	+ The first countdown to use the "Futura Bold BT" font for the text.
	+ The first countdown to use the "whoosh" sound effects.
* This countdown also marks the only of a few things:
	+ The only countdown under the control of Discover Card in the 1990s.
	+ The first countdown to use CGI animation for the numerals in the 1990s.
* This countdown also marks the last of a few things:
	+ The last countdown made for a new year in the 1990s and 1900s.
		- In production, the Discover Card 2000-2008 Countdown was the last countdown made in the 1990s and 1900s.
* The countdown was declared complete by Alex H Countdowns after the remaining missing fragment of it had been spotted on a video from September 16th, 2023.
	+ Prior to the discovery of the missing part of the countdown, it had about roughly 98% of footage available.
* This countdown was reused as an hourly countdown for the 2000 ball drop, except that **HAPPY NEW YEAR** is replaced with **HAPPY 2000** and fades away after nine seconds before looping.
* As seen in the CBS live report of the 1999 ball drop, when the countdown hits 0, the fireworks block the screen for a few minutes, likely due to the amount of fireworks used or the brightness of the fireworks. These may have been the reasons why it is almost impossible to see the HNY sign.

### Appearances in films, TV, and music videos

* Parts of this countdown can be seen in the New Year's live events from 1998-1999 and 1999-2000 on ABC, CBS, NBC, MTV, and NY1.
* In the 1999 TV science fiction-thriller movie *Y2K: The Movie* (a.k.a *Countdown to Chaos*), parts of 11 to 9 can be seen, along with the last two seconds of the countdown. When the countdown hits 0, the countdown freezes and fades into a remade version of the HNY sign. The Discover Card sign was also excluded from the tower.
* In the 1999 action horror film *End of Days*, which was released over a month before 2000 arrived, the first four seconds of the countdown can be seen. Fragments of the last six seconds of the countdown and a bit of the HNY sign are later seen after Jericho impales himself on the sword. Not only did this movie reuse this countdown, but also the Discover Card sign from 1998.
	+ The animation of the HNY sign is also blocked when the fireworks fire. However, it is a bit visible in one of the film's trailers.
* A *Toyota commercial from 1999* contains a remade version of the countdown. At midnight, however, the screen only displays a static frame of a number exploding. The power then goes off.
* Fragments of the original variant of the countdown can be found on Europe's The Final Countdown 2000 music video.

## Gallery

### The countdown itself

6059585743424140312120121110654321A partial animation of the HNY sign popping up.The Happy New Year sign.The modified Happy New Year sign used for hourly countdowns.
### Fragments from TV broadcasts and music videos

Europe - The Final Countdown 2000Footage of the last four seconds and the animation of the HNY sign can be seen from 3:45 to 3:52.

### Fragments from movies

End of Days (1999). The first second of the countdown is seen for a very brief time before an explosion effect appears.