94 Years Young posted: 01/12/2017
by Rob Silvershein
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, at the Crossroads of Tradition and Technology
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924, was first televised in 1948, and continues to be one of the most-popular family viewing events in television. To many, the parade represents the unofficial start of the holiday season. With 3.5 million spectators and over 20 million viewers watching the event on television, the parade combines marching bands, floats, Broadway show performers, giant balloons, and celebrities as the formula for its success. While the number of viewers of the event has been holding steady over the years, the percentage of households viewing the parade has been steadily dropping.
The question is what more can be done to ensure that such a successful event continues to adapt to the times?
A Little Bit of History
Since 1952, NBC has been the official broadcaster of the Macy's Parade, but since the event is held in public, there cannot be exclusive rights offered to anyone. That is the reason that CBS also has been broadcasting the event. As recent as 5 years ago, people who wanted to view the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade had 3 primary choices: Tuning in to NBC or CBS, or attending the event in person.
In 2012 the parade route changed due to high wind safety concerns around Columbus Circle, making it more difficult for CBS to cover the event. However, CBS continues to cover the parade from its Black Rock Headquarters on 6th Avenue. NBCU has also been hosting the event in Spanish on its sister network, Telemundo, since 2003.
2017 Options for viewing the Parade
For the 2017 Parade, many viewing options were made available to the public
Network Coverage: CBS, NBCU, Telemundo
Paid Apps: NBC Live, CBS All Access
Free Streams: EarthCam, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram
The Macy's Social Media Site: Enables the viewer to take a deeper dive into the parade, its history, the route, and the lineup.
360 Degree coverage: In addition to the standard streams, Verizon has partnered with NBC and Macy's to bring viewers a 360-degree view of the parade on its You Tube Channel.
New for 2017: Verizon has added a camera on the lead parade float, plus augmented reality Easter eggs allowing users to cash in on Black Friday deals. Verizon also sponsored a 60-second television spot thanking first-responders, and the split screens during which ads ran while the live parade was going on.
Why the Future Will Continue to be Bright for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
With more and more people moving away from Live Television Broadcasts, the Thanksgiving Parade is somewhat bucking that trend, and will continue to do so for a long time.
Good Money
Not only is the Thanksgiving Day Parade a Holiday Tradition, but it is also a money-maker for the Broadcast Networks. The Parade itself is full of corporate sponsors of balloons, floats, and musicians. The timing of the parade, just before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, is ideal to ensure a steady stream of commercial advertisers. Unlike major sporting events, there are no fees paid out for exclusive broadcast rights. One can be certain that the Networks are not going to do anything to jeopardize the success of the parade.
Embracing Technology
NBCU, CBS, Macy's, and other sponsors have been doing all the right things to ensure that their audiences stay engaged. The Verizon partnership with NBCU and Macy's showing the 360-degree views, augmented reality, and split screens ads, are just some of the examples of how technology can enhance the viewer experience.
Also, enabling the streaming of the event on many disparate devices captures larger and younger audiences, who tend to not watch traditional TV and builds a sense of tradition into the psyche of these viewers.
Smart Marketing
The parade broadcast is also leading the way in intelligent marketing. While the parade audience is getting older, it still captures young people. Research shows that if you capture the audience young, they will continue to flock to this annual event as they get older. Furthermore, the move away from a total reliance on 30-second commercial spots, and into more relevant and authentic sponsorships and experiences is the future of advertising.
In Conclusion
The 94-year old Macy's Thanksgiving Parade tradition continues to be strong and will stay strong thanks to the broadcasters of the event understanding that if done properly, audiences young and old, will continue to not only view the event, but engage in richer and deeper ways. Watching and following the event last week gave me a glimpse into the future of what traditional broadcasters and marketers need to do to be successful -that is to be relevant, authentic, and open to change.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
94 Years Young posted: 01/12/2017 
