NBC: Milan Cortina Olympics ratings up 96% over Beijing

Field Level Media
24 Feb 2026, 23:49 GMT+10

(Photo credit: Nick King/Lansing State Journal/USA TODAY Network / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

NBC Sports struck ratings gold this month with its coverage of the Milan Cortina Olympics on NBC stations and the streaming platform Peacock.

The network averaged 23.5 million viewers to become the most watched Winter Olympics since Sochi in 2014, while marking a 96% ratings improvement over the 2022 Beijing Games.

Highlight moments across the two weeks of Olympic coverage included the opening and closing ceremonies, Alysa Liu's gold medal in women's figure skating and gold medals for both the women's and men's ice hockey teams, each with victories over Canada.

'The Milan Cortina Olympics proved once again that the American audience will gather in large numbers over 17 days to experience this unmatched global competition,' NBC Olympics president Gary Zenkel said in a statement.

The viewership data, through Nielsen, is through Thursday and subject to revision.

NBC reported that all 15 days when competition took place saw at least 20 million viewers per day. Peacock and NBCU digital platforms averaged 3.3 million viewers daily.

According to Nielsen, Milwaukee led all markets with a 13.7 rating and a 49 share. That was followed by Minneapolis, Fort Myers, Fla., Pittsburgh and Dayton, Ohio.

The Milan Cortina Olympics were part of a busy sports month for NBC, which included Super Bowl LX, the most-watched show in the 100-year history of NBC and the second-most watched show of all-time across any network. The month also included the most-watched NBA All-Star Game since 2011.

--Field Level Media

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