> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://tvrev2beta2.ghost.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# What People Watched Over Thanksgiving Weekend
- URL: https://tvrev2beta2.ghost.io/what-people-watched-over-thanksgiving-weekend/
- Published: 2020-11-30T23:29:52.000Z
- Updated: 2020-11-30T23:29:52.000Z
- Author: Eleanor Semeraro
- Tags: Thanksgiving, viewership trends, Inscape, #sqs, #Import 2026-09-03 20:26

Needless to say, you already know football and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade attracted a lot of eyeballs over the holiday weekend — but what else were people feasting on?

We worked with VIZIO’s [Inscape](http://inscape.tv/?ref=tvrev2beta2.ghost.io), the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 16 million active and opted-in smart TVs, to take a look at the programs that had the most reach, as well as the most watch-time, for three periods: Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and the weekend as a whole (Nov. 26-29). Here's what we found:

**Thanksgiving Day**

It's a time-honored tradition to watch two things on Thanksgiving: the Macy's parade and NFL football. And yes, those topped the list: NFL football reached 38.79% of active VIZIO smart TVs and accounted for 18.82% of all minutes watched on November 26\. The parade was second for both reach and watch-time, 25.07% and 6.175, respectively. The National Dog Show also had its share of attention, reaching 16.22% of TVs and capturing 2.28% of watch-time.

Diving a little deeper into the Macy's parade, 31% of people who watched the 2019 parade watched at least 10 minutes of the 2020 parade, while 27% of viewers of this year’s parade had tuned into at least 10 minutes last year, according to Inscape's viewership crossover data.

![](https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Xy5AXQ1eIR7IwAc2zOMmEW_SVJU6x4Kpe3nhQpc_bQWrW6L7HRPFFra3hiWAr4WjqFqMKvFh6LtGflZYzZqvYpJKZgYrDWV0L7vi8BRnGZzIyzqcWp1mIBUUv8QIjoRSygCGe4fS)

Via Inscape

On the network side of things, CBS reached the most TVs (40.50%), but Fox had the most watch-time (15.88% of all minutes). Outside of broadcast, CNN had the highest reach for cable (8.67%), but Hallmark, with its beloved Christmas movies, had the most watch-time for cable networks (3.28% of minutes)

With the obvious aside, let's talk *Home Town*. Yes, I mean the HGTV series featuring Erin and Ben Napier that started in 2016 and has become a staple home improvement series. HGTV ran a marathon of the show on Thanksgiving, and it accounted for 1.44% of all minutes watched that day, putting it in fourth place for watch-time. In general, marathons on cable networks are increasingly capturing watch-time, as they provide ample opportunity for people to sit down for "just one..." but keep watching.

Speaking of marathons....

**Black Friday**

College football and basketball were the big winners for Black Friday TV viewership, but sneaking into third place for watch-time was *Band of Brothers* (1.34%), thanks to a marathon on History, followed by Food Network's *Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives*, the marathon of which captured 1.27% of minuted watched on Friday.

Looking at networks for Black Friday, ABC had both the highest reach (28.41%) and minutes watched (9.53%), followed by NBC (23.70% / 5.97%), CBS (21.96% / 4.98%) and Fox (20.62% / 4.79%). While ESPN was No. 5 for reach during the day (11.34%), Hallmark had fifth place for watch-time (4.28%).

**Weekend Winners**

Put simply, NFL and college football, plus the Macy's parade, topped the charts for reach and watch-time over the full holiday weekend. But when all was said and done, *Home Town* was still No. 4 for watch-time, speaking to the power of marathons to capture — and keep — viewer attention.

For networks, broadcasters topped both rankings as you'd assume; ESPN was No. 5 for reach over the whole weekend (19.92%) but Hallmark and its allure of holiday spirit set it solidly in fifth place for watch-time (4.13% of all minutes watched over the long weekend).

**Binging...Not Just Food**

Finally, Inscape took a look at the most-binged time-shifted shows for Nov. 26-29\. While four are the usual suspects (*Friends*, *Law & Order: SVU*, *The Office* and *Criminal Minds*), coming in at No. 2 for most-binged was HBO's new series *The Undoing*.

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BrjFtOx5_uOn_YeFJfx3Y0By9KBX3SG_nLOszl7B49lzc5UxRtSGeOALXkE0oD2XOYnFZifJ53vEFOLySPJ9bMn2nknqYY_2O7mIc33B-ipTpgd5ce-wvZF1mkfzXzRZKY-Ga_B7)

Via Inscape.tv