Major Networks and Their Thanksgiving Day Lineups
On Thanksgiving Day, the three major U.S. broadcast networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—air a mix of scripted series, reality TV, and sports programming. ABC typically leads with the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and a slate of family-friendly movies and specials. NBC features the NFL Thanksgiving games and the annual "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" special. CBS often schedules marathons of popular procedurals and reality series, with programming starting in the morning and running into primetime. Viewers can also access live streams of these broadcasts through the networks' official apps and websites, including Hulu Live TV and YouTube TV, which carry the major broadcast feeds.
Streaming services have expanded Thanksgiving Day programming beyond traditional broadcast schedules. Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video offer dedicated holiday movie collections and original series marathons that users can start at any time. Peacock streams NBC's Thanksgiving Day NFL games and the Macy's Parade live feed for subscribers. Paramount+ carries CBS content and live NFL games for cord-cutters. These platforms use algorithmic recommendations to surface Thanksgiving-themed content, often surfacing titles like "The Thanksgiving House" and "A Madea Homecoming" in their holiday hubs.
NFL Games and Sports Programming on Thanksgiving
The NFL Thanksgiving Day tripleheader is a fixed annual tradition, with games broadcast across CBS, NBC, and Amazon Prime Video. Since 2022, Amazon Prime Video has held exclusive rights to host one of the three Thanksgiving Day games as part of its Thursday Night Football package. CBS and NBC each air one game in the afternoon and evening windows, respectively. The Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys have hosted games on Thanksgiving since the league's early history, and the league typically announces the full schedule in May or June. In 2023, the NFL expanded Black Friday programming with additional games, extending the football window beyond Thanksgiving Day itself.
ESPN and ABC also contribute to Thanksgiving sports coverage with college football bowl games and NBA games. The NBA traditionally schedules a full slate of games on Thanksgiving afternoon, with games airing on ESPN, ABC, and NBA TV. The college football postseason includes several Thanksgiving Day rivalry games, with the SEC and Big Ten conferences often featuring marquee matchups. These sports broadcasts drive significant advertising revenue, with a 30-second spot during the NFL Thanksgiving games costing an average of $7 million in 2023, according to industry reports from Ad Age and the Wall Street Journal.
Popular Thanksgiving TV Specials and Movie Marathons
Several scripted and animated specials air repeatedly around Thanksgiving, becoming part of the holiday viewing routine. "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" airs annually on Apple TV+ and PBS, with the Apple TV+ stream debuting the special in 4K resolution in 2023. The Disney+ catalog includes "The Thanksgiving House," "Home for the Holidays," and various Hallmark Channel originals that rotate into the platform's holiday collection. NBC's annual broadcast of "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" draws consistent viewership, with the 2023 airing drawing approximately 3.2 million viewers according to NBC's public ratings data.
Movie marathons on cable networks like Hallmark Channel, Lifetime, and ABC Family dominate the Thanksgiving Day schedule from mid-morning through late evening. Hallmark Channel's "Countdown to Christmas" event typically begins the day after Thanksgiving and extends through December, but Thanksgiving Day itself features a curated lineup of family films. Netflix's top 10 list in the United States frequently includes Thanksgiving-themed movies during the holiday week, with titles like "The Thanksgiving Promise" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" appearing in the platform's holiday collection. For real-time Thanksgiving TV schedules, the TV Guide website provides updated listings across all major networks and streaming platforms.