How NBCUniversal Turned Legendary February Into a Company-Wide Growth Engine

This February, NBCUniversal brought audiences together around the biggest moments in sports for Legendary February – a single, connected cultural moment spanning the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Super Bowl LX, and NBA All-Star Weekend. Across an unprecedented 17-day stretch, the month operated not as three standalone tentpoles but as a coordinated relay – each event handing momentum to the next and moving audiences seamlessly through the NBCUniversal ecosystem to create unmatched reach and cultural impact.  

More than 225 million Americans watched NBCUniversal's presentation of Legendary February. The Milan Cortina Olympics became the most-watched Winter Games since Sochi, averaging 23.5 million viewers – up 96% versus Beijing – with all 15 competition days surpassing 20 million viewers.  

Super Bowl LX became the most-watched program in the company's 100-year history, averaging 125.6 million viewers and ranking as the second most-watched show of all time, while also delivering the most-watched Spanish-language Super Bowl on Telemundo. Super Bowl Sunday also marked Peacock's single best day ever in reach and hours streamed. The NBA All-Star Game generated its largest audience since 2011, averaging 8.8 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and Telemundo, with a peak of nearly 10 million. 

Legendary February showcased the company's ability to pair production scale with innovation. On the broadcast side, there were more programming hours on the NBC broadcast network than any previous Winter Olympics. Across the month, on Peacock, more than 16.7 billion minutes were streamed for the Olympics alone – more than all prior Winter Games combined. Fans who engaged with at least one Peacock feature watched 2X more Olympics content. When fans engaged with two features together (e.g., Multiview + Games), total usage nearly quadrupled.  

While live events delivered massive reach, entertainment converted that scale into engagement. During the Olympics, entertainment content accounted for more than half of all Peacock consumption, driving over 300 million hours streamed in a two-week period – one of the largest stretches in platform history. Legendary February produced four of Peacock's top ten usage days ever, including its largest day of all time on Super Bowl Sunday with more than 100 million hours viewed. 

Sports momentum also translated into gains across News, with the Milan Cortina Olympics driving NBC Nightly News to #1 in the key demo, TODAY to #1 across the board in Week One, digital coverage up 24% vs. Beijing, and social video views surging 1,087%. NBC-owned and affiliated stations dominated broadcast television, topping primetime local market ratings in all 56 metered markets. 

Legendary February activated talent and IP from across the portfolio – Snoop Dogg, Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, and the Minions moved seamlessly across platforms and moments, exemplifying the strength of NBCUniversal's connected ecosystem. Their presence helped fuel cultural conversation in real time, amplifying key moments and accelerating social engagement across the month. 

Across social platforms, coverage of the Olympics generated 4.28 billion impressions – up 437% versus Beijing – alongside a 434% increase in social video views, and 1.4 million new followers added across NBC Sports accounts.