Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, NBCUniversal‘s slate of holiday programming reached a total of 88 million average viewers.
That total comes from a combination of Nielsen’s measurement of broadcast airings on NBC and the company’s own internal data regarding streams on Peacock. For context, NBCU reported 82 million viewers for its holiday slate in 2023, but that number was measured from Thanksgiving to Dec. 22 rather than Jan. 1.
The biggest contributor to the 88 million viewers was the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was the No. 1 most-watched program of the holiday season across all networks. The parade increased its viewership by 11% compared to 2023 and achieved its largest audience ever with an average of 31.7 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.
The No. 3 most-watched broadcast program of the holiday season also aired on NBC: the National Dog Show, which hit 12.3 million viewers across NBC and Peacock, a 5% increase from the year before.
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Also among the NBCU holiday slate was “Jimmy Fallon’s Holiday Seasoning Spectacular,” which became the top new holiday special of the year with 3.8 million viewers, and multiple classic Christmas films. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” aired on NBC for the first time in 50 years and hit 4.8 million viewers, marking a 50% increase from its CBS airing last year, and “Frosty the Snowman” jumped 51% from its 2023 CBS airing with 2.8 million viewers during its first time ever on NBC. Additionally, “Saturday Night Live” aired Thanksgiving and Christmas specials that jumped 9% and 26%, respectively, from the year before.