The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade had its largest audience ever Thursday, across all platforms. According to NBC, 31.3 million viewers watched the parade on NBC and Peacock, according to preliminary estimates from Nielsen and streaming data from Adobe Analytics. This represents a 10% increase from last year’s 28.5 million, which was the previous all-time high. The number includes the live broadcast in the morning and the afternoon repeat on the television network and streaming on Peacock.
The initial broadcast, which aired from 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. in all time zones, drew 23.6 million viewers, more than any other entertainment program (i.e., non-sports or news) this year — and for the last four years. The last time an entertainment show attracted a larger audience was during the 2020 Oscars. NBC also said that streaming hours on Peacock increased 26% from the previous year, although as usual , did not specify the exact number.
Among adults 18-49, the live broadcast of the parade earned a 5.4 rating (equivalent to approximately 7.24 million people), the highest rating for any network or cable entertainment program since the program New Year’s Rockin’ Eve ABC achieved a similar result in 2021.
“The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is an event we are enormously proud of, and it is a real joy to know that it achieved record viewership on NBC and Peacock,” said Jen Neal, executive vice president of live events and NBCU Entertainment’s special productions. “The parade is an unparalleled tradition. Year after year, it’s the best way to kick off the holiday season and we’re excited to be a part of it with our partners at Macy’s.”
Added executive producer Will Cross: “The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a beloved tradition that annually marks the start of the holiday season. Macy’s is honored to bring this iconic experience to life and create moments of inspiration and joy through world-class entertainment that only we can deliver to our customers and the nation.”
Thanksgiving is one of the highest TV viewing days of the year, and other programs have seen big ratings as well. Following the parade, NBC’s broadcast of the National Dog Show averaged 12.2 million viewers across all platforms, a record that has risen over the past four years.
Fox’s late afternoon NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants attracted an estimated 38.5 million viewers — despite both teams having losing records — across all platforms, and if that number holds up, it will be the fourth most-watched Thanksgiving on any network. In prime time, NBC’s NFL game (Green Bay Packers vs. Miami Dolphins) averaged 26.6 million viewers across all platforms, topping 26 million for the third consecutive year. Data for CBS’s NFL game this afternoon between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears was not available at the time of publication.
