Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade - Television Coverage

Television Coverage

More than 44 million people watch the parade on television each year. It was first televised locally in 1939 as an experimental broadcast. No television stations broadcast the parade in 1940 or 1941, but when the parade returned in 1945 after the wartime suspension, so too did local broadcasts. The parade began its network television appearances on CBS in 1948, the year that regular television network programming began. NBC has been the official broadcaster of the event since 1952, though CBS (who has a studio in Times Square) also carries unauthorized coverage under the title "The Thanksgiving Day Parade on CBS." Since the parade takes place in public, the parade committee can endorse an official broadcaster, but they cannot award exclusive rights as other events (such as sporting events, which take place inside restricted-access stadiums) do. The planned rerouting of the parade (see below) would move the parade out of the view of CBS's cameras and thus make it significantly more difficult for them to cover the parade; CBS nevertheless plans on covering the parade to the same extent as in previous years.

CBS has often been criticized for its coverage of the parade. For many years (until 2002), CBS aired parades that had been taped a month before, along with the New York parade. Since then, the announcers that CBS has hired have been known to interview guests instead of paying attention to the parade. One of the main problems is that CBS broadcasts from the Hard Rock Cafe near Times Square. This location makes it difficult for CBS to interact with the parade. The Macy's parade is the only parade that CBS televises, since it dropped the Tournament of Roses Parade in 2006. The network also airs performances of Broadway musicals during breaks in the parade.

At first, the telecasts were only an hour long. In 1961, the telecast expanded to two hours, then 90 minutes in 1962–1964, back to two hours in 1965, and by 1969, all three hours of it were being televised. The broadcasts have been in color since 1960. NBC tape delays the program so that it airs at the same time (9 a.m. to noon) in all four of the major time zones in the contiguous United States. CBS's unauthorized coverage airs live in most time zones (allowing viewers to see the parade as many as three hours before the official NBC coverage airs in their area).

From 1962 to 1971, NBC's coverage was hosted by Lorne Greene (who was then appearing in NBC's Bonanza), and Betty White. Ed McMahon co-hosted in 1971, then hosted until 1982. Bryant Gumbel hosted 1982-1987 Between 1987 and 1997, the NBC telecast coverage was hosted by The Today Show’s Willard Scott. During that period, their co-hosts were Mary Hart, Sandy Duncan, Deborah Norville, and Katie Couric; from the early 80s until circa 1994, the show was produced and directed by Dick Schneider; since circa 1994, the telecast has been executive produced by Brad Lachman, produced by Bill Bracken and directed by Gary Halvorson. In recent years, NBC's coverage has been hosted by Today anchors Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira; Ann Curry; and Savannah Guthrie as well as Today weatherman Al Roker; with announcements provided by Don Pardo, followed by Lynda Lopez, the telecast's only female announcer, who served during the decade wherein Willard Scott was parade host; and, since circa 1994, by Joel Godard of Late Night with Conan O'Brien fame. In 2011 Today announcer Les Marshak took over announcing duties. The musical director for the TV coverage is the veteran composer/arranger Milton DeLugg. NBC announced that there will be a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 85th Anniversary Primetime Special hosted by The Today Show’s Matt Lauer, November 24th at 10:00 p.m.

CBS's coverage was originally part of an "All-American Thanksgiving Day Parade," a broadcast that included footage from multiple parades across the continent, including parades at Disneyland (later replaced by Opryland USA and after that Miami Beach), the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, and two month old taped footage of the Aloha Floral Parade in Honolulu. Beginning in 2004, however, CBS has focused exclusively on the Macy's parade, but avoids using the Macy's name due to the lack of an official license. To compensate for the fact that the Broadway and music performances can only appear on NBC, CBS adds their own pre-recorded performances (also including Broadway shows, although different from the ones that are part of the official parade) to fill out the special.

For the 1997 parade, MTV guest reporters, Beavis and Butt-head, with host Kurt Loder, provided their usual style of commentary on aspects of the parade, and of their take on Thanksgiving in general. The special, entitled Beavis and Butt-head Do Thanksgiving, includes a balloon of Beavis and Butt-head spectating from their couch. The balloon was not participating in the parade, but stationed on top of a building along side the parade route.

In 2008, a Coca Cola CGI ad aired in the USA during Super Bowl XLII. The commercial's plot consisted of Underdog and fictional Stewie Griffin balloons chasing a Coke bottle-shaped balloon through New York City. The spot ended with a Charlie Brown balloon holding the Coke balloon. The advertisement won a Silver Lion Award at the annual Lions International Advertising Festival in Cannes, France that year, and the clip of the commercial with the Griffin balloon was featured in a Macy's commercial in October 2008 (along with clips of Miracle on 34th Street, I Love Lucy, Seinfeld and other media where the Macy's department store was mentioned). The commercial was even referenced in an episode of Family Guy (the show in which Stewie stars); Stewie is seen watching the parade only to see the balloon of himself in the parade.

Radio coverage is provided by WINS (1010). It is one of the few times throughout the year that station breaks away from their all news radio format.