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The 2026 Winter Olympics continued its ratings momentum over the final weekend.
The Games averaged 23.5 million viewers across NBCUniversal and Versant platforms from February 6-23, based on Nielsen ratings and streaming data from Adobe Analytics — a significant improvement over the modestly watched 2022 Winter Olympics. The 2026 audience, which combines live afternoon broadcasts on NBC and Peacock (and occasionally Versant’s USA Network and CNBC) and prime-time replays, nearly doubled the average for the 2022 games (12 million). This average may grow slightly because it includes preliminary Nielsen numbers for the final few days of games.
NBC says the 2026 Winter Olympics are the most-watched Winter Games since 2014. The Olympics averaged more than 20 million viewers across the full 15 days of competition from February 7 to 20, and at the opening ceremony on February 6.
The Milan-Cortina Olympics became the most broadcast Winter Games ever less than a week after the start of the competition, with Peacock achieving higher numbers than ever during the remainder of its coverage. The Games ended up with 16.7 billion minutes of airtime, more than double the combined total of all previous Winter Olympics (which came before 2022 via NBC’s apps and websites).
“The success of the Milan Cortina Olympics, Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, and the 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles could not have happened without the tremendous collaboration and support across Comcast NBCUniversal – including Peacock, NBC Entertainment, NBC News, Telemundo, local owned stations, NBC affiliates, our exceptional ad sales and distribution teams, and Xfinity. And of course, our great partners at the International Olympic Committee, And the USOPC, the NFL and the NBA,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordelia. In a statement.
The gold medal women’s hockey game between the United States and Canada on February 21 attracted 5.3 million viewers, a record for any women’s hockey contest in the United States. Ratings for the men’s final, also a USA win over Canada in overtime, will be available Tuesday.
Peacocks had their best month ever in February, unsurprisingly. The streamer (and other NBCU digital platforms) averaged 3.3 million viewers per day for “Milan Prime” (2-5 p.m. ET) and the main U.S. primetime television broadcast, accounting for about 14 percent of the total 23.5 million average. The Super Bowl, Olympics, and NBA programming also had a halo effect on Peacock’s entertainment offerings: Barbs It launched to strong viewing numbers on Super Bowl Sunday, shows including Traitors, ponies and It’s all her fault It saw increases in viewership compared to the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl and the Olympics.
