Big Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Performance Goes Wrong: Hosts Scramble as The War and Treaty’s Appearance Becomes Stalled

Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb had to awkwardly fill time as a result.

November 28, 2024, 11:57am

Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb at the 2024 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Credit: NBC)

A live performance misfire led to an awkward few minutes on NBC’s broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. The War and Treaty were set to perform while riding the Balsam Hills’ “Deck the Halls” float. However, their music didn’t start, leaving the country music duo awkwardly standing around. This mishap happened as NBC was already facing criticism for having performers lip-sync most of their performances yet again.

NBC then kicked over to the hosting panel, which consisted of Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb. Kotb acknowledged that there were technical difficulties, saying, “Every now and then there’s a little hiccup.”

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The War and Treaty during the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (Credit: NBC)

Despite the awkwardness, Guthrie made sure to praise The War and Treaty as an “incredible band.” Kotb then filled time by praising the parade’s marching bands, with Roker praising all the dancers featured in the event. NBC awkwardly moved on to talk about the new Elf on the Shelf balloon (which also featured the Arctic fox character Extraordinary Noorah) before cutting to commercial.

Luckily, the band returned after the break. Their segment, performing “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home),” then proceeded as intended. NBC slightly picked up the pace for the remainder of the broadcast due to the time constraints the delay caused. It’s unclear if NBC will edit out the snafu in the encore presentation.

How to Watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for Free

Jimmy Fallon during the 2024 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (Credit: NBC)

In case you missed the initial Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade broadcast, NBC is re-airing it later Thursday afternoon. NBC will then air the National Dog Show from noon to 2 p.m. ET, before shifting over to an encore showing of the parade broadcast from 2-5 p.m. ET. NBC broadcasts are free to anyone with a digital antenna.

For those without a way to receive the NBC broadcast free and over the air, the network is available from most cable/satellite providers. Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming service, is also simulcasting coverage.