NBC could be forced to swallow three times the annual fee it pays to hold the broadcast rights to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, according to reports.
The Comcast-owned network, which has held the broadcast rights to the holiday TV staple since 1953, is now reportedly in the process of inking a new deal to keep the festive event going for the next 10 years. wall street journal.
NBC may have to pay an average annual fee of more than $60 million to continue broadcasting the parade in Christmas splendor, people familiar with the terms of the deal told the Journal.
The deal will also include other Macy's events, including Fourth of July fireworks on the Hudson River.
Featuring floats, giant balloons, school marching bands, A-list stars, Rockettes and Santa Claus himself, the nearly century-old parade is one of the few television events that can get Americans clicking away from streaming services. . About 30 million viewers tuned in last year.
While continuing to use fan-favorite balloons like Snoopy and SpongeBob SquarePants, the parade continues to follow yearly trends and this year added Wednesday-themed balloons inspired by the Netflix show.
As events such as parades, football games and awards ceremonies draw fewer spectators, their value has increased.
For example, Disney paid a 20% premium to steal the Grammy Awards from CBS last month, the magazine reported.
NBC raised $52 million in advertising last year for the glitzy holiday event. According to advertising research firm Guidelines, the average cost of a commercial is $865,000.
This year, the average ad will cost businesses a whopping $900,000.
As celebrities pay more to appear in parades, production costs have soared from less than $4 million a few years ago to nearly $7 million this year.
NBC aired the National Dog Show immediately after the parade, and the Puppy Bowl's popularity soared, reaching a total of 11 million viewers last year.
According to the guidelines, dog shows cost less than parades and are particularly lucrative for NBC, which generated $14 million in advertising revenue last year and sold commercial slots for $372,000.
Macy's hired talent agency WME to handle negotiations with NBC, rather than doing so itself, the paper said. Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, is participating in the negotiations.
Parade would be a huge loss for NBC. Because it kicks off the channel's holiday programming. The network recently bought the rights to such Christmas classics as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer'' and “Frosty the Snowman,'' which were previously owned by CBS.
