Well, they were halfway there …

The ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center Plaza on Tuesday was only about half-full as Jon Bon Jovi performed a new song — and several in the audience were little runaways because of the cold.

NBC staffers had tried to fill the area with fans beginning at around 1 p.m. as the network planned to film a segment that will air during its Christmas tree-lighting special on Wednesday.

“Come see Bon Jovi and ‘Mean Girls’ tonight on the rink,” the staffers shouted.

One crew member told The Post, “They’re practically begging people to come down.”

About 300 people eventually did show up, filling up only about half the ice skating rink. Around 6 p.m., Bon Jovi took the stage, to a lukewarm response.

The 57-year-old New Jersey rocker debuted “Unbroken,” a new tune featured in the recently released Netflix documentary “To Be of Service,” about veterans suffering from PTSD and their service dogs.

“This a song that I wrote for members of the military,” Bon Jovi said. “Thank you to so many of the men and women who serve this country.”

As he crooned, men and women in uniform came out to surround him on stage.

A group near the front of the stage gushed that they “loved him” — but after the fourth of at least six takes, some 30 revelers couldn’t take the frigid weather any longer and left.

“We’re frozen,” said Joanna J. from Canada, who was accompanied by her husband Dave.

Still, “It was nice,” she said. “He goes up there with cold lips and cold fingers.”

“A lovely tribute. He is terrific.”