The 43rd annual patriotic display from the iconic department store lite up the NYC night but not NBC's ratings

Anything with a Jennifer Hudson rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and a multi-colored painting of the NYC skyline is worth watching on July 4th, or any night. But Thursday’s Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular (0.9 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic, 5.89 million viewers) didn’t quite blow up with viewers.

With the Oscar winner’s spectacular voice on display, a return to the Brooklyn Bridge, fireworks and performances from the likes of Luke Bryan, Maren Morris and Brad Paisley, the 43rd yearly celebration from the iconic department store on American’s 243rd birthday crashed from last year.

Maybe it was the good weather that had people outside all over the country at the cookout or maybe it was Donald Trump’s planes, tanks and rain tribute to America down in a wet D.C., but the 2019 Macy’s effort dropped 25% among adults 18-49 from last year.

Perhaps putting the hurt on a little harder, the fast affiliate viewership numbers show an equally explosive 25% decline from 2018. While the Comcast-owned net easily won the encore-heavy night overall with a 0.9/7 (equal to ABC, CBS and Fox put together) and an audience of 5.37 million, the TV fireworks crowd is the smallest to watch the extravaganza since 2015.

That second-to-last year of the Obama administration show was up a tenth from the previous year in the demo, but down 15% with just 5 million watching the initial broadcast.

Other than Macy’s 4th of July, CBS’ Elementary (0.3/2) was the only original on the holiday Big 4 small screen. Having faced the second night of NBC’s Democratic debate miniseries on June 27, the departing modern Sherlock Holmes drama dipped a tenth in the key demo.

Have a great holiday weekend!