Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the multimillion dollar deal with NBC

FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS, IT’S TRADITION.  GATHER IN FRONT OF THE T-V ON THANKSGIVING MORNING AND WATCH THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE.  FOR MORE THAN 70 YEARS, NBC HAS BROADCAST THE FAMILY EVENT.
THIS YEAR, ABOUT 30 MILLION AMERICANS ARE EXPECTED TO TUNE-IN, WITH ANOTHER THREE MILLION IN-ATTENDANCE TO THE SEE THE MARCHING BANDS, FLOATS AND BALLONS, INCLUDING SNOOPY, MINNIE MOUSE AND SPIDERMAN.
COMPANIES PAY MACY’S FOR A SPOT IN A PARADE, IN EXCHANGE FOR ADVERTISING AND ALL SORTS OF PUBLICITY. .
THE PARADE ALSO MEANS BIG BUCKS WHEN IT COMES TO BROADCASTING.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL IS REPORTING THAT NBC AND MACY’S ARE NOW IN NEGOTIATIONS ON A NEW CONTRACT THAT WOULD TAKE EFFECT NEXT YEAR AND  KEEP THE PARADE ON NBC, AND ITS STREAMING SERVICE PEACOCK, FOR THE NEXT DECADE.  NBC IS EXPECTED TO PAY $60-MILLION-DOLLARS-A-YEAR  FOR THOSE RIGHTS.  A BIG JUMP FROM THE $20-MILLION IT PAYS NOW.
YOU’VE HEARD A LOT ABOUT HOW MUCH A COMMERCIAL IN THE SUPER BOWL COSTS EACH YEAR ?   THE MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE IS SIMILAR. THE PRICE OF A T-V SPOT THIS YEAR, ACCORDING TO ADVERTISING AND RESEARCH DATA FIRM “GUIDELINE”,  ABOUT $900,000.  LAST YEAR, NBC PULLED IN $52-MILLION IN ADVERTISING.  NBC PAYS OUT ROUGHLY $7-MILLION IN COSTS TO BROADCAST THE PARADE, INCLUDING A LOT OF ITS POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE, SUCH AS CELEBRITY APPEARANCES.
ANALYSTS SAY ALL THAT MONEY BEING THROWN AROUND IS INDICATIVE OF THE VALUE OF LIVE PROGRAMMING TO MEDIA COMPANIES IN an ERA WHEN MANY VIEWERS ARE FLOCKING TO STREAMING.  FOR MORE UNBIASED UPDATES, DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS AP