NBC100: A Century of Making Olympic History

NBC has been the exclusive broadcaster of the Summer Games since 1988 and the Winter Games since 2002, but NBCUniversal's true Olympic record stretches back nearly a century. For 94 years, beginning with the 1932 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York, the modern Olympic games and the broadcast industry have grown and evolved together. From modest beginnings to some of the most iconic moments in a century of sports, NBC's string of Olympic firsts and broadcast innovations have helped propel the Olympic legacy over the decades. From the radio era to the age of AI and streaming, NBCUniversal has continued raising the bar to bring the world's most prestigious sporting event to American audiences like never before. This year, as part of the 100th anniversary of NBC, NBCUniversal looks back at an incredible Olympic history while looking ahead to a year of celebration.

Recently, the IOC and Comcast NBCUniversal extended their groundbreaking Olympic media rights partnership through 2036, ushering in a new digital era for the Games.

NBCUniversal's dominance in live

The Olympics is one key part of NBCUniversal's overall dominance in live entertainment in 2026. This will be an unprecedented year of live events as NBCUniversal will host 40% of the industry's major live broadcasts in 2026, delivering the biggest moments in media. In addition to the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, highlights of the year include: the 100th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Super Bowl LX, the FIFA World Cup on Telemundo, NBA and WNBA, Sunday Night Football, BIG10, the Ryder Cup, the U.S. Open, the Emmys, Major League Baseball games, the Kentucky Derby, and more. 

NBCUniversal's new deal with MLB adds professional baseball to the NBC lineup. With Sunday Night Football in the fall, Sunday Night Basketball in the fall/winter, and now Sunday Night Baseball in the spring, NBC will offer year-round coverage of the three marquee professional sports. This union of all three great American pro sports under a single broadcaster is unprecedented in broadcast history. Meanwhile, NBCUniversal's "Legendary February" features an unprecedented 17-day stretch with the Super Bowl, the Winter Olympics, and the NBA All-Star, showcasing NBCUniversal's unmatched platforms, talent, and production capabilities.

Here now is a look at 94 years of the Olympics on NBCUniversal, beginning with the upcoming 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

The most innovative Olympic viewing experience yet – the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games

Milan Cortina 2026 will have more programming hours on the NBC broadcast network than any previous Winter Olympics. NBC will provide Olympic fans with at least five hours of daytime coverage every day featuring the most exciting events, including live coverage of figure skating, freestyle skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, and more. With Italy, like Paris, six hours ahead of the Eastern Time Zone in the United States, daytime coverage will air live on NBC during weekend mornings and every afternoon.

Peacock rolls out new features and unprecedented access

Peacock will be the streaming home of the 2026 Winter Olympics, providing fans with the most comprehensive Winter Olympic destination in U.S. media history. The service will once again stream every sport and event live (including early morning alpine skiing) – all 116 medal events. Peacock will feature full-event replays; all linear programming, including the NBC broadcast network; curated video clips; virtual channels; exclusive original programming; cutting-edge technology; and more.

A timeline of the Olympic Games on NBCUniversal

Here is a look back at NBCUniversal's unprecedented 18 previous Olympic presentations, from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics to the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.

NBC makes television history at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics

NBC broadcast its first Olympic Games in 1964 with the Tokyo Olympics, transmitting just 14 hours of coverage. History was made when NBC became the first to transmit live color television programming by satellite overseas to the United States for the Opening and Closing Ceremony. New ground was also broken by NBC when anchor Jim Simpson spoke to the U.S. audience from Tokyo as he became the first TV broadcaster to report live from Japan via satellite.

NBC makes a 1972 winter splash in Sapporo, Japan

Sapporo marked the first Winter Games to be held outside of Europe and North America, and the first-ever Winter Games broadcast on the NBC Television Network. NBC carried 37 hours of coverage in what was the only Winter Games broadcast by the network until Salt Lake in 2002.

After 16 years without an Olympics broadcast, NBC makes a strong return at the 1988 Seoul Olympics

On October 3, 1985, the International Olympic Committee announced that NBC was awarded the broadcast rights to the Seoul Olympics. The Summer Games were held in the fall in Seoul, Korea and marked the first (and last) time in 12 years that the U.S. and Soviet Union competed in the Summer Games. NBC's Olympic coverage spanned 176.5 hours.

The network introduced many new features for their returning Olympic presentation, including miniature "point of view cameras" for specific events such as the pole vault and gymnastics, a series of profiles which highlighted athletes and moments from Olympics past titled the "Olympic Chronicles," and an original Olympic soundtrack which included "One Moment in Time," an original Whitney Houston song. NBC won seven Emmy Awards for their Olympic coverage.

The 1992 Barcelona Olympics debuts the 'Moby-Cam'

Presenting its second straight Summer Games, NBC produced 161 hours of Olympic coverage, with primetime exposure accounting for 74 hours. In addition, NBC presented 30 hours of weekday coverage, 21 hours in late night, and 36 hours of weekend morning and afternoon coverage.

NBC debuted "Moby-Cam," an underwater tracking camera used on swimming coverage.

NBC dives deeper than ever before for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics

NBC's 171.5 hours of coverage of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics attracted more viewers at the time than any other event in television history with 209 million viewers in 17 days. NBC Sports went on to win 10 Emmy Awards for its work from Atlanta, including one in a special technical innovation category for "dive-cam."

NBC goes online for the 2000 Sydney Olympics

NBC's Emmy-Award winning coverage of the 2000 Sydney Olympics marked numerous firsts and successes. The unprecedented 441.5 hours of taped coverage on NBC, MSNBC and CNBC attracted a total of 185 million unique viewers over 17 days. It was the company's first extensive use of cable networks.

NBC's coverage garnered 10 Emmy Awards, including one for Outstanding Live Event Turnaround and for Outstanding Technical Achievement for Virtual Swimming Graphics – and it surpassed all advertising and revenue expectations, posting a profit north of $50 million. In addition, NBCOlympics.com attracted nearly six million unique visitors during September, becoming the most trafficked Olympic Web site, according to the Nielsen Net ratings.

After thirty years, NBC returns to the Winter Games with the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics

NBC's coverage of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Winter Games, which won a record 17 Emmy Awards (including six primetime Emmys for Opening Ceremony coverage) attracted 187 million unique viewers, making Salt Lake the second most viewed Winter Games ever. NBC and its cable networks CNBC and MSNBC televised an unprecedented combined 376 hours of coverage.

With the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, NBC has put on the best U.S. Olympic TV ever…The sports themselves are firmly center stage.

– USA Today

NBC broadcasts the 2004 Athens Olympics in both English & Spanish

An unprecedented presentation of the 2004 Athens Olympics marked NBC's first as a part of the newly formed NBCUniversal, and included 1,210 hours of coverage, 24 hours a day, and was watched by 203 million viewers on the networks across NBCUniversal's new network portfolio including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Bravo, Telemundo and NBC HDTV.

Telemundo's Spanish coverage represented the first-ever non-English language Olympic coverage in the U.S.

NBC's high-definition affiliates provided the first HDTV coverage of the Summer Games in the U.S.

The 2006 Torino Olympic Winter Games are presented with more hours, more high-definition, and more digital options

NBC's passion for and commitment to the Olympics was on full display during the Torino Games with an unprecedented 416 hours of coverage, including more live coverage than any Winter Games in history.

The record-setting coverage on the networks of NBCUniversal – NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network – surpassed the 375.5 hours from Salt Lake in 2002. NBC's HD affiliates and Universal HD also provided high definition Olympic coverage. NBCOlympics.com was the Internet's preeminent Olympic source.

Watching NBC on high-definition is, in a word, gorgeous.

– NY Daily News

Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt make the 2008 Beijing Olympics can't miss television

"It turned out to be the greatest TV many Americans have ever witnessed," is how ESPN described NBC's coverage of the spectacular 2008 Beijing Olympics. From the dazzling Opening Ceremony to Michael Phelps' Olympic-record eight gold medals to Usain Bolt's world records, the 2008 Beijing Olympics captivated America and became the most-watched television event in history with 215 million viewers.

NBCUniversal's coverage of the Beijing Olympics was the most ambitious media project in history. Its 3,600+ hours of coverage surpassed the combined total of every previous Summer Games ever presented.

For the first time ever in the U.S., NBCUniversal's website featured live streaming Olympic broadband video coverage.

NBC won nine Emmy Awards, including three primetime Emmy Awards plus a Peabody Award, for its coverage as well as resounding praise.

Viewership records are made with NBC's broadcast of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games

NBCUniversal presented more than 835 hours of Vancouver Olympic Winter Games coverage – representing the most total hours ever for a Winter Games, and the first to be presented entirely in high definition.

The USA vs. Canada gold medal hockey game, that NBC's Bob Costas called, "One of the greatest sports events I have ever seen," was the most-watched hockey game in 30 years. Canada's epic 3-2 overtime victory drew an average viewership of 27.6 million, the most watched hockey broadcast of any kind since the gold medal-clinching USA vs. Finland 1980 game in Lake Placid on Feb. 24, 1980 (32.8 million).

It's the greatest show on snow. And the television version has been so satisfying –visually, emotionally, aesthetically – that, for the moment, the national pall imposed by the recession, and by the generally shabby state of public affairs, seems to have been lifted. Not only is the show grand and gorgeous and sometimes thrilling, but it's also a huge hit.

– Washington Post

Records continue to be broken as the 2012 London Olympics makes waves on broadcast and streaming

NBCUniversal presented more than 5,535 hours of London Olympic coverage – an unprecedented level that surpassed the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours.

More than 219.4 million Americans watched the London Olympics on the networks of NBCUniversal, setting the record as the most-watched event in U.S. television history, surpassing the 2008 Beijing Olympics (215 million), according to data provided by The Nielsen Company.

For the first time ever, NBCOlympics.com live streamed every competition as well as Closing Ceremony.

The 2014 Sochi Olympics bring Olympic gold and Emmys gold to NBC Sports

The biggest Winter Games in history, in the biggest country in the world, received the most U.S. coverage in Winter Games history. NBCUniversal presented more than 1,539 hours of coverage of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games across NBC, NBCSN, CNBC, MSNBC, USA Network and NBCOlympics.com.

The Sochi Games generated 242.3 million media exposures across the platforms of NBCUniversal – a 3.5 million increase over the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. NBC's Sochi Olympics was the No. 1 show on all 18 nights based on household rating.

NBCUniversal's presentation of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games earned seven Sports Emmys – the most of any program that year.

NBCUniversal makes streaming history with innovative tech for the 2016 Rio Olympics

NBCUniversal's exclusive and unprecedented coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics was the most ambitious media event in history, providing more ways to consume more hours of content across more platforms than any Olympics ever.

78% of U.S. TV homes tuned into NBC 2016 Rio Olympics coverage.

NBC Olympics delivered the biggest and most watched digital event in U.S. history with 3.5 billion total minutes streamed of its exclusive coverage of the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Utilizing a new underwater, trans-continental fiber optic network between the United States and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the NBC Olympics team streamed every second of competition, across 306 events. This allowed fans to find and stream everything. For the first time, streaming coverage was available on connected TVs and the NBC Sports app delivered the first-ever virtual reality (VR) coverage of an Olympics.

Streaming continues to soar at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics

NBCUniversal's exclusive coverage of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics was the most robust presentation of the Winter Games in media history. NBCUniversal presented 2,400+ hours of coverage and ranked as the most dominant Winter Games on record.

NBC Sports Digital live-streamed 1.85 billion minutes of coverage from PyeongChang.

Peacock enters the Olympic field with the 2020 Tokyo Olympics

NBCUniversal's 2020 Tokyo Olympic Presentation was the largest media event in history, and delivered massive audiences throughout the day and across all platforms with 150 million Americans tuning-in. NBCUniversal presented a record 7,000 hours of coverage and had nearly 6 billion streaming minutes across digital and social media, making the Tokyo Olympics NBCUniversal's most-streamed Olympics ever.

NBCUniversal's streamer, Peacock, featured Olympic content for the first time, and recorded its best two weeks of usage.

The 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games make Beijing the first city in the world to have hosted both the Summer and the Winter Games

NBCUniversal's 2022 Beijing Olympics presentation featured the most extensive Winter Games coverage in history with 2,800+ hours of coverage and more than 160 million Americans watching across all platforms.

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics exceed all expectations for ratings, streaming, and revenue

With 180 billion minutes watched over the 17-day period, the Olympics dominated the media landscape, helping to lift total TV viewing in the country by 3% versus the comparable period prior to the Olympics. NBCUniversal came together  – across Sports, Peacock, News, Ad Sales, Distribution, Telemundo, and the Studio and Parks businesses – to deliver the most innovative, biggest, and most complex Olympics in history. Over the two weeks of the Olympics, NBCUniversal demonstrated the success of those efforts with a total TV time audience share of 17.6% and No. 1 rankings across the portfolio including:

• NBC: No. 1 broadcast network
• USA Network: No. 1 Sports/Entertainment Cable Network
• Peacock: No. 1 in App Stores
• TODAY and Nightly News: No. 1 in their time periods

NBCU's broadcast of the Olympics captured the cultural conversation of the nation, eliciting hundreds of press stories and dominating social media with the Olympics trending in the top five every day of the Games across social platforms.

The revenue story was equally impressive. For the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, NBCUniversal secured more advertisers than the 2016 Rio Games and 2020 Tokyo Games combined. More than 70% of advertisers for the 2024 Summer Games were new, with nearly half a billion dollars coming from first-time sponsors. Overall, digital ad revenue more than doubled that of Tokyo, setting a record high for NBCUniversal.