Sports on TV joins turkey, parade as holiday traditions
The Thanksgiving weekend wasn't just big for turkey, family visits and the Macy's parade
NEW YORK (AP) — Besides eating turkey and visiting with family, sports on television occupied the time of many Americans over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Some marquee contests led to some TV milestones, including the most-watched regular season pro football game ever and most-seen soccer game on American television, the Nielsen company said.
The Dallas Cowboys' defeat of the New York Giants shown on Fox Thanksgiving Day was seen by an estimated 42 million people, Nielsen said. Two teams with national followings, both having strong years, playing on a day where there's a captive audience, led to the record. The previous best was a December 1990 game between the Giants and San Francisco.
Fox's telecast of the World Cup match between the U.S. and England reached 15.38 million people on Friday. That alone beat the previous U.S. record-holder, the 1994 World Cup championship, and didn't even count the audience on Telemundo, which lifted the total U.S. audience to nearly 20 million.
