NBCUniversal Delivers Largest Winter Games Weekday Audience Since 2014 (26.7 Million Viewers), Led by Alysa Liu and U.S. Women’s Hockey Team Winning Gold

U.S. Women’s Hockey’s Thrilling OT Victory Over Canada is Most Watched Women’s Hockey Game on Record, Averaging 5.3 Million Viewers on USA Network and Peacock; Audience Peaked at 7.7 Million Viewers in Overtime

February 20, 2026

Led by Alysa Liu’s gold-medal winning performance in the figure skating free skate, and the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team’s 2-1 overtime victory over Canada in the gold-medal game, NBCUniversal yesterday delivered the most-watched Winter Olympics weekday coverage since Feb. 17, 2014, averaging 26.7 million viewers for the live afternoon window (Milan Prime: 2-5 p.m. ET) and Primetime in Milan (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) across NBC, Peacock, NBCU Digital Platforms and Versant’s USA Network, according to preliminary Nielsen data and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Highlighting afternoon coverage, the gold-medal women’s hockey matchup between the United States and Canada was a thriller on the ice and is the most-watched women’s hockey game on record, with an average of 5.3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock. Team USA overcame a late third-period, 1-0 deficit on Hilary Knight’s game-tying goal with just over two minutes remaining, before winning 2-1 on Megan Keller’s goal in overtime. The game’s audience peaked at 7.7 million viewers in overtime (3:45-4 p.m. ET).

Additional highlights:

Thursday marked the 14th consecutive day that NBCU’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympic audience has topped 20 million viewers, according to official Nielsen Big Data + Panel viewership and preliminary data from Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

Through Thursday, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is averaging 24.1 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal Digital Platforms and Versant’s CNBC and USA Network – marking the most-watched Winter Games presentation at this point since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, according to official Nielsen Big Data + Panel viewership and preliminary data from Nielsen, and digital data from Adobe Analytics. Viewership is up 93% from the 2022 Beijing Olympics at this point (12.5 million).

NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Games through 2036, which are scheduled for Milan Cortina (2026), Los Angeles (2028), French Alps (2030), Brisbane (2032), Utah (2034), and the 2036 Summer Games.