Everyone loves a parade — some years more than others. Thursday’s 91st Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade slipped 7.4 percent from last year in the earliest-available Nielsen ratings numbers.
Yesterday, the long walk through Manhattan averaged a 12.5 rating/27 share on NBC, per some very preliminary data out of the nation’s 56 metered-markets. Compare that with 2016’s march toward Herald Square, which had actually scored its top overnight rating in 13 years — a 13.5/29.
The 2017 parade put up a 7.0 rating among adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters. The year-ago’s version landed a 7.7, which was a loss of 9 percent from the age-range most beloved by advertisers.
After Santa Claus came to town, NBC’s “National Dog Show Presented by Purina” telecast dipped 6.3 percent year over year, according to the same overnight data stream.
The 2017 “National Dog Show” had a 6.0/14 in households and a 3.1/3 in the demo. Last year’s canine contest got a 6.4/15 and a 3.4/13, respectively.
While the morning and daytime programming was down year over year on Turkey Day, today isn’t exactly the blackest of Fridays for NBC. All of the above numbers are still strong, and the broadcaster dominated Thursday’s primetime with a New York Giants-Washington Redskins football game. That momentum maintained into late-night, when both Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers posted big viewership figures.
Thanksgiving Viewing Guide 2017: What's on TV (Photos)
From football to "Star Trek," viewers have a lot to choose from this holiday weekend.
FX will air a family movie marathon on Thursday, including "Smurfs 2," "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2" and repeat airings of "Despicable Me 2" and "Minions" throughout the day (7 a.m. - 11 p.m.).
Universal Pictures
FXX will celebrate Thanksgiving holiday-themed "The Simpsons" marathon on Thursday evening (8 p.m. - 12 a.m.), followed by 12 back-to-back episodes of the CBS comedy "Mom" on Friday (12 - 6 p.m.).
Fox
AMC will have a "Godfather" Thanksgiving, airing the Francis Ford Coppola film trilogy throughout the day and into the early morning (9 a.m. Thursday - 6 a.m. Friday).
Paramount
TBS will host some "Friends" for the holiday, airing the NBC sitcom's Thanksgiving episodes back-to-back on Thursday (1 p.m. - 6 p.m.).
NBC
The annual spectacle of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air on NBC, hosted by "Today" trio Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker (9 a.m. - 12 p.m.).
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Following the parade, NBC will broadcast the 2017 National Dog Show, hosted this year by the Kennel Club of Philadelphia (12 p.m. - 2 p.m.).
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A two-hour compilation of the best holiday sketches from "Saturday Night Live" will air on NBC on Wednesday night (9 p.m. - 11 p.m.).
NBC
VH1 will spend the long weekend marathoning throwback classics including "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," "Coming to America," "Pretty Woman," "Grease," "Dazed and Confused," "Space Jam" and "Dazed and Confused" (6 a.m. Thursday - 8 p.m. Sunday).
Paramount
As part of the run-up to its annual "25 Days of Christmas" programming block, Freeform will air all eight "Harry Potter" films on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (12:30 - 11 p.m. Friday, 7 a.m. - 12 a.m. Saturday, 7 a.m. - 12 a.m. Sunday).
Warner Bros.
Though not holiday themed, fans of "Star Trek" can catch a marathon of the original series, "Voyager" and "The Next Generation" on BBC America throughout the weekend (3 a.m. Thursday - 3 a.m. Sunday).
NBC
Starz will air all 10 episodes of "Outlander" Season 3 on Thursday, ahead of the new episode on Sunday night (11 a.m. - 9 p.m.).
Starz
MTV will air all five "Twilight" movies back-to-back on Saturday, bookended by the Oscar-nominated film "The Blind Side" (11 a.m. Saturday - 1 a.m. Sunday).
Summit Entertainment
Football fans will be treated to three games on Thanksgiving day: Vikings @ Lions on Fox (12:30 p.m. ET), Chargers @ Cowboys on CBS (4:30 p.m. ET) and Giants @ Redskins on NBC ( 8:30 p.m. ET).
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TheWrap’s guide to movies, marathons and TV specials airing this holiday weekend
From football to "Star Trek," viewers have a lot to choose from this holiday weekend.