NBCU Claims Big Ad Impact Over Thanksgiving Weekend

Mariah Carey at NBC's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Mariah Carey appeared during the Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC (Image credit: Cara Howe/NBC)

NBCUniversal says its advertisers had hundreds of millions of reasons to be thankful over the Thanksgiving weekend — one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

NBCU itself seemed to be thankful that it has worked to find alternatives to Nielsen when it comes to measuring how many people watch its shows and engage with its commercials.

Across its portfolio NBCU’s programming -- as measured by Nielsen -- reached 121 people aged 2 and up. Data from measurement company iSpot.tv shows the ads on NBCU properties reached 128 million adults. 

Tentpole programming over the holiday weekend included the 2022 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a primetime NFL game on Thursday and World Cup matches on Telemundo.

In addition to Nielsen and iSpot, NBCU employed measurement from Adobe, EDO and Marketcast to gauge the value and effectiveness of its clients’ advertising.

For example, NBCU found that commercials during the Thanksgiving Day Parade delivered 18% stronger ad message memorability than competitive programming on that Thursday. That night, Late Night With Seth Meyers had its most-watched episode in three years. For sponsors, ad memorability was 14% stronger and ad likeability was 11% higher compared to competitors’ programming.

According to its research, NBC’s Thanksgiving Day programming prompted 33% more brand searches than the prior year. The National Dog Show outperformed the competitive broadcast benchmark by three times. ■

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.