Macy’s Parade Television History

Macy’s Parade Television History

Below is a shot from 1954 showing NBC’s new Chime logo on a TK30. If you look closely at the viewfinder, you will see that the WNBT call letters have been removed and as of yet have not been replaced with the new (October 18, 1954) WRCA call letters. 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 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.

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.

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. The 87th annual parade will kick off from 77th Street and Central Park West at 9 a.m. The route will continue down Central Park West to Columbus Circle before turning onto Central Park South and 6th Avenue. Marchers will be heading straight down onto 6th Avenue past 59th down to 34th Street until they reach the iconic Macy’s Herald Square.

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8 Comments

  1. Mike Hemeon November 29, 2013

    Remotes sucked back then

  2. Tom McKeever November 28, 2013

    I remember watching it back in the early 1960s when the stars of Car 54 appeared. Yes I am that old. The past few years like this morning I’d rather watch it on CBS. NBC does too many self promotions for their shows. Big turn off. BTW Lorne Greene & Betty White were the best team. Lorne used to reference the Ponderosa a lot, great fun.

  3. Albert J. McGilvray November 28, 2013

    Thanks to a camera switch that was about five seconds too late, I got to see my daughter Emily. She was a childrens escort, making sure none of the children fell off the float. I still have it on my TIVO.

  4. Robert Beyer November 28, 2013

    Love the wooden sticks and what looks like an O’Connor fluid head. We were still using tripods and heads like this when I began working in film as an AC 20 years later.

  5. JM Roberts November 28, 2013

    I remember seeing an episode of the Tomorrow Show with Tom Snyder (was it still a 1 a.m. Eastern Time start?) on a Wednesday night/Thursday morning out on the street where NBC would telecast the parade later that morning.

  6. Pierre Fex November 28, 2013

    sylvain ce n’est pas derrière la caméra lol….

  7. Bobby Reyes November 28, 2013

    …I hope y’all will view my posting of our Heathkit GR-53A receiver and the image of Lorne Green and Betty White on it ! ..I even posted a photo of me operating a TK-41C from First Baptist Church in San Antonio.

  8. Dennis Degan November 28, 2013

    Since 2012, the parade has passed along 6th Ave. Previously, it had been on 7th Ave through Times Square, but due to the newly added pedestrian walkways in Times Square (and elsewhere), the route had to change. Now, the parade actually passes by the West Building of NBC!