THANKSGIVING: STILL THE BROADCAST NETWORKS’ FAVORITE DAY

November 28, 2023 by Mitch Metcalf

Thanksgiving Day remains a rare bright spot for broadcasting in America, with families and friends gathering together on a national holiday steeped in traditions, often involving television. The NFL tripleheader and NBC’s holiday specials were the most watched shows of the day, with five out of six

programs exceeding 20 million viewers in an average minute. NBC added a half hour to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Period by starting it earlier at 8:30am. A larger audience delivery across a longer time period produces very happy and helpful advertisers and network programmers.

11/23/2023: Top Programs Persons 2+ Live+Same Day

• 41.8M CBS 4:36pm NFL Washington at Dallas

• 33.7M FOX 12:36pm NFL Green Bay at Detroit

• 24.8M NBC 8:23pm NFL San Francisco at Seattle

• 22.0M NBC 8:30am Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

• 20.9M CBS 4:00pm NFL Today

• 11.3M NBC 12:00pm National Dog Show

Last year produced nearly identical results across the board, with no evidence of linear TV erosion that we see on virtually every other day of the year. FOX received the bounty of the late afternoon game in Dallas last year, as CBS and FOX alternate who televises the early game in Detroit.

11/24/2022: Top Programs Persons 2+ Live+Same Day (Thanksgiving last year)

• 42.1M FOX 4:46pm NFL NY Giants at Dallas

• 31.8M CBS 12:35pm NFL Buffalo at Detroit

• 24.8M NBC 8:24pm NFL New England at Minnesota

• 22.6M FOX 4:03pm NFL Pregame

• 21.7M NBC 9:00am Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade

• 10.9M CBS 12:00pm NFL Today

• 10.8M NBC 12:00pm National Dog Show

ABC is the lone significant broadcast network without a piece of the Thanksgiving pie, but the network’s time to shine on a national holiday comes soon with Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, another institution that dominates a big night with deeply ingrained viewer habits.

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