Getty Fireworks are seen from the East River on the South Brooklyn route of a New York City ferry on July 4, 2017 in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
Tonight is the 2019 Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular and the annual event is the biggest fireworks display and concert in the country. For those hoping to watch the show, we have all the details on what time the televised program starts, when the fireworks display launches, what channel to watch the show on, encore show times, the performers, the hosts and more. Read on below for the rundown.
Macy’s Fireworks Start Time 2019
The 2019 event will air from 8 – 10 p.m. ET live, with an encore presentation of the last hour airing directly after the broadcast. The actual fireworks are set to launch at 9:20 p.m. ET and will last roughly 25 minutes long.
Macy’s Fireworks 2019 Channel
NBC will broadcast this year’s big event. Check with your local TV provider (ie. FIOS, Optimum, Time Warner) to find out what channel NBC is in your area. You can also use the NBC channel finder to look for your local stations here.
Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks 2019 Hosts
This year’s co-hosts of the event are Derek Hough and Ciara. And, not only will the two host but they will also be performing. Ahead of the big event, Hough spoke with the NY Post about the gig and said, “I’m co-hosting with Ciara. I’ll be introducing the acts and doing a few performances. I just finished a 56-city tour and went on a little vacation with my girlfriend Hayley Erbert. I just got back. In the next four days, I’m going to put the routines together. It will have some rock ‘n’ roll, hip-hop, samba and cha-cha. I’ll do a little bit of everything.” This will be Hough’s first time celebrating the fourth in NYC.
How to Watch the Macy’s Fireworks Online
If you don’t have cable, you can watch a live stream of NBC on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming subscription services:
NBC (live in most markets) is one of 95-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle.
You can start a free 7-day trial of FuboTV right here, and you can then watch a live stream of NBC on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of Cloud DVR (with the ability to upgrade to 500 hours), as well as a “72-Hour Lookback” feature, which allows you to watch most shows up to three days after they air even if you forgot to record them.
In addition to a Netflix-like on-demand streaming library, Hulu also offers a bundle of 60-plus live TV channels, which includes NBC (live in most markets).
You can sign up for “Hulu with Live TV” right here, and you can then watch a live stream of NBC on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, “Hulu with Live TV” comes with both its extensive on-demand library (which has most new episodes available after they air) and 50 hours of Cloud DVR storage (with the ability to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of DVR space and the ability to fast forward through commercials).
PlayStation Vue–which doesn’t require an actual PlayStation console to sign up or watch–offers four different live-TV channel packages, all of which include NBC (live in most markets).
You can start a free 5-day trial of PS Vue right here, and you can then watch a live stream of NBC on your computer via the PS Vue website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation (3 or 4), or other supported device via the PS Vue app.
If you can’t watch live, PlayStation Vue comes included with cloud DVR.
NBC (live in select markets) is included in the “Sling Blue” channel package.
You can start a free 7-day trial of Sling TV right here, and you can then watch NBC live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One or other streaming device via the Sling TV app.
If you can’t watch live, you can get 50 hours of cloud DVR storage as an additional add-on.
Macy’s Fireworks 2019 Performers
Host Derek Hough will deliver a dance performance, while his co-host, Ciara, will perform a musical medley. Other performers include artists Luke Bryan, Khalid (from his Free Spirit World Tour), Maren Morris, and Brad Paisley. A musical score will also play and it will feature songs like “America the Beautiful” and “Stars & Stripes Forever”, according to Hawaii News Now.
There will also be musical tributes to classic American film, with music from such films as Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Casablanca Suite, and Alfred Newman’s 20th Century Fox Fanfare. A recording of Jennifer Hudson singing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz will also play, according to Billboard.
Doug Vaughan, Executive Vice President, Specials & Late Night Programming, NBC Entertainment, released the following statement, “NBC is proud to once again partner with Macy’s on what is always a spectacular Fourth of July celebration. We have a lineup of A-list performers and an incredible fireworks extravaganza that is the biggest in the country.”
Macy’s Fourth of July Fireworks 2019 Location
The fireworks will launch from the East River and Brooklyn Bridge. For the best places to watch the fireworks locally, have a look at our guide here.