After years of backsliding in viewership and importance, the Olympics have been gaining ground once again in recent years. Thus far, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy, are sustaining momentum.
The turnaround story began at the 2024 Paris Olympics. NBC finally found a way to hit its stride in balancing live daytime coverage with a successful primetime formula. The network had struggled in the modern era with how to simultaneously serve hardcore fans who wanted to see events live with primetime fans who came for the stories and the narratives. Ratings were up 82% on NBC for the 2024 Summer Olympics over 2020, and Peacock set streaming records. From Snoop Dogg to Gold Zone to live streaming everywhere, the Olympics felt like they were truly back.
Although it’s been less than a week, the 2026 Olympics are following a similar pattern.
According to NBC, the winter games in Italy are averaging 26.5 million viewers through Tuesday for coverage in the late afternoon and primetime. The late-afternoon window features major events like live figure skating, while primetime offers a recap of the day’s action, with the storytelling that has always been its tentpole.
That viewership figure makes Milan Cortina the most-watched Winter Olympics since Sochi all the way back in 2014. And it’s nearly double Beijing 2022’s average over the same period, which averaged just 13.7 million viewers.
On streaming, Peacock is once again setting a record-blazing path and already breaking records from the entire Winter Olympics with more minutes streamed (5.3 billion) versus the entirety of the Beijing or PyeongChang games. You haven’t truly lived until you’ve watched an Olympic curling quadbox.
There are many factors working in NBC’s favor compared to four years ago. The live and primetime windows provide a double-dip of coverage, the time zone is much friendlier, and sports viewership has increased across the board in the new Nielsen Big Data era. Despite all that, it’s clear there is a real uptick in viewership and interest. The good news for NBC is that, with this strong early momentum, the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina should continue to grow, with both USA hockey teams looking strong and medal favorites in figure skating, snowboarding, skiing, and speed skating sure to enter the spotlight.
About Matt Yoder