Parade delivers strong results for NBC amid a solid showing by other Thanksgiving day programming

NBC’s annual telecast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade attracted a record 31.3 million viewers across all platforms, the network has announced.

“The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an event in which we take enormous pride, and it’s an absolute joy to know that there was a record number of people watching across both NBC and Peacock,” said Jen Neal, executive vice president, live events and specials, NBCU Entertainment, in a statement. “The parade is a tradition like no other. Year after year, it’s the best way to kick off the holiday season, and we’re thrilled to be a part of it with our partners at Macy’s.”

Viewership of the parade across two showings on linear and Peacock streaming hit 23.6, which was up 10% from 2023, which held the previous viewership record, and garnered more viewers of any show since the 2020 Oscars. 

That total includes 23.6 million views of the first broadcast from 8:30 a.m. to noon across all time zones and will go down as the most-watched non-sports and non-news broadcast of the year.

NBC did not break down figures between streaming and linear viewers, but did indicate Peacock streams were up 26% year over year. It also wasn’t immediately clear if these figures included non-live or live-to-tape viewings.

NBC also noted that its demo performance for the parade was strong, pulling in a 5.4 rating in the 18-49 age group, becoming the highest-rated telecast since “New Year’s Rocking Eve” in December 2021.

The strong performances come as reports surfaced that NBC is reportedly getting ready to renew its parade rights deal with Macy’s, possibly at a cost of $30 million per year compared to the $20 million it’s paying now.

Given this year’s viewership, it would appear that cost could be justified, even as production costs on the parade have reportedly grown. NBC leans heavily on the parade to center its Thanksgiving programming and help lead into other shows of the day, so even if the parade ends up being a less profitable proposition, it’s likely still a good value for the network.

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Live sports and special events have been a bright spot in linear TV ratings because viewers tend to watch them live and generate buzz on social media, which can encourage others to tune in live — and potentially sit through commercials — since they want to see what unfolds as it happens.

Later in the day, NBC’s Thanksgiving Day schedule continued to show growth. “The National Dog Show” had 12.23 million viewers across all platforms, up 5% over 2023 and the most watched iteration since 2020 (note that 2020 ratings for many annual programs tended to be higher due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

As special telecast of “Sunday Night Football” (on a Thursday) attracted 26.6 million viewers. NBC did not indicate how this compared to previous years of similar games other than to say it was the third consecutive year of a Thanksgiving evening matchup hitting 26 million or more.

In late night, “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” drew 2.8 million viewers, its highest total viewers since last year’s Thanksgiving day telecast.

“Late Night with Seth Meyers” also delivered its highest total viewers (1.5 million) since last year’s Thanksgiving day telecast.

 “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” broadcast is produced by Silent House Productions. Baz Halpin, Mark Bracco, and Linda Gierahn serve as executive producers. Sacha Mueller is co-executive producer.