Milan Cortina Olympics 2026 Draws Record 23.5 Million Viewers

Team USA wrapped up the Milan Cortina Olympics with a record-breaking 12 gold medals, making it the best Winter Games ever for the US team. NBCUniversal also had reason to celebrate, as they saw impressive viewership numbers for their coverage of the 17-day event. This year’s Winter Games coverage, which included a whopping 3,200 hours of programming and 116 events, averaged 23.5 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal’s digital platforms, and Versant’s USA Network and CNBC.

NBCU reported that this was the most-watched Winter Olympics in the US since 2014, with a 96% increase from the Beijing Winter Games in 2022, where viewership reached 12 million. As for individual days, all 15 competition days from February 7 to February 21 garnered over 20 million viewers on average. The “Milan Prime” and “Primetime in Milan” slots brought in an average of 3.3 million viewers daily via streaming on Peacock and NBCU digital platforms.

One standout event that drew big numbers was the USA women’s hockey team’s victory over Canada, which became the most-watched women’s hockey game of all time, with 5.3 million viewers tuning in on USA Network and Peacock. In terms of local markets, Milwaukee led the pack with a 13.7 rating and a 49 share, followed closely by Minne…