Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade guru Wesley Whatley takes us behind the scenes of the most-watched variety show of the year

Reliable Sources

CNN

News

3.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 November 2021

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Brian Stelter shares his previous experience as a balloon handler in the Thanksgiving parade, and he talks with Wesley Whatley, a creative producer at Macy's, who helps plan the festivities every year. Whatley reflects on the nearly 100-year "tradition" of the parade; his role selecting marching bands and other performers from across the country; and the importance of both the in-person experience and the television broadcast. Plus, Whatley asks Stelter about his balloon-flying skills and Whatley describes the moment Kermit sang a song he wrote. To learn more about how CNN protects listener privacy, visit cnn.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It is one of the most watched television events of the year.
0:05.0	Every year.
0:07.0	I'm talking about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
0:10.0	It's a communal event and a fragmenting media world.
0:14.0	So what goes into the production behind the scenes?
0:17.0	And what is special about this year's parade?
0:21.0	Those are a couple of the questions for this holiday edition
0:24.0	of the Reliable Sources podcast.
0:26.0	So let's cue the music.
0:28.0	I'm Brian Stelter and this weekly podcast is our chance to go in depth
0:32.0	with media leaders and newsmakers talking about how the media world works.
0:38.0	And this program is parade is a part of the media world I've always been fascinated by.
0:45.0	I actually have a personal connection to the Macy's parade.
0:49.0	This goes back many years, almost 20 years.
0:52.0	I was a balloon handler in the parade in New York City
0:57.0	for four years in a row.
1:00.0	So I'm going to tell you about that and what that was like.
1:03.0	But more importantly, what the tradition of the parade is all about.
1:07.0	How significant it is for NBC and for Macy's.
1:11.0	So let me bring in one of the men who helps run the parade.
1:14.0	Wesley Watley.
1:15.0	He's the creative producer for the Macy's parade.
	...

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