Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Debut: November 25, 1948

An American Thanksgiving Day tradition just as big and just as important as the turkey, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade has been held in Midtown Manhattan every year since 1924 and is America's oldest Thanksgiving Parade. Originally a one-time event to celebrate the heritage of American workers at Macy's, the parade was such a success in its first year that Macy's declared it an annual event. Originally using live animals the parade replaced them with balloons in 1928. In 1932 local radio stations affiliated with NBC broadcast parade highlights nationwide, then the first television broadcast followed in 1948. The TV broadcast was originally one hour long and aired on CBS. NBC would become the permanent full-time affiliate in 1952. In 1961 the event was expanded to two hours. It was reduced to 90 minutes in 1962 but by 1969 all three hours of the parade were broadcast. In 2023 the parade would expand once again to three and a half hours. The 1960 parade was the first shown in color. Today the first hour of the broadcast consists of live performances from Broadway shows before the parade reaches Herald Square at the second hour. Afterwards coverage is full wall-to-wall footage of the floats, marching bands, and those famous balloons. The last float in the parade is always Santa Claus whose appearance marks the official start of the holiday season. The parade gets an average of 44 million TV viewers a year and is hosted by the personalities from NBC's Today Show.

Intros
Credits
Posters
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