TV Talk: WPXI ends its annual holiday parade tradition

WPXI-TV announced it will no longer stage and broadcast its annual holiday parade in Downtown Pittsburgh, a 40-year tradition.

A post to the WPXI Holiday Parade Facebook page says while the station was proud to broadcast the seasonal special, “At this time we cannot continue to produce and broadcast the Parade.”

No reason is given, but a portion of the statement does allude to a lack of “production partners,” suggesting Channel 11 was unable to line up a sponsor to help cover the cost of staging and televising the event.

First airing in 1980, Kaufmann’s and later Macy’s sponsored the parade for years until the department store pulled out in 2014.

At one point, Pittsburgh Public Schools was a presenting sponsor of the parade. The last time the parade happened in 2019, local Ford dealerships sponsored the parade, variously known as the “Celebrate the Season Parade” and the “My Macy’s Holiday Parade.”

Because of the pandemic, the parade did not march in 2020, replaced with a best-of retrospective for telecast only.

Channel 11’s statement left some room for a possible return — “We know it is a popular part of the holiday tradition for Pittsburghers and leave the door open to future broadcast opportunities if production partners arise” — but then signs off with a note of finality: “Thank you to all past participants and Parade watchers for the wonderful memories and moments!”