More than 28 million people tuned into The 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a best-ever viewership level for the annual event in NYC.
That figure includes all platforms, which includes the NBC live viewing (8:30 a.m-12 p.m.; half-hour longer than last year’s telecast and still up on an average audience basis), the encore telecast (2-5 p.m.) and on Peacock. The parade also earned a 7.2 rating in the 18-49 demo.
Both the viewership level and the demo rating represent a 6% increase versus last year’s parade.
The live linear telecast of the parade (22.3 million viewers; 5.3 in the demo) is the highest entertainment program of the year across all of television in both categories. It’s also the highest entertainment program in both categories since the 2021 parade.
“We’re absolutely thrilled that a record number of people were able to enjoy the parade with their families and friends, and spend the day with us,” said Jen Neal, Executive Vice President, Live Events and Specials, NBCUniversal Media Group. “We take great pride in bringing the best holiday programming to our audience – across both NBC and Peacock – and there’s no better way to bring in the season than with balloons, marching bands, musical performances and a tradition like no other. A big thank you to Macy’s for being such great partners on this iconic event.”
The parade was also’s Peacock’s No. 1 entertainment simulcast to date, more than doubling streaming hours from last year’s parade.
The National Dog Show Presented by Purina, which aired after the parade, drew 11.9 million viewers and a 2.9 rating in the demo across NBC and Peacock. That’s up 8 percent and 11 percent, respectively, vs. last year’s telecast.
For the rest of the night, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon drew 2.9 million viewers and a .70 in the 18-49 demo – the best Tonight Show performance since Thanksgiving 2022. Afterwards, Late Night with Seth Meyers attracted 1.4 million viewers and a .33 in the demo, also the best in a year since last Thanksgiving.