Opening Saturday of Milan Cortina Olympic Competition Is Most Watched Winter Games Show Since 2014, Averaging 28.5 Million Viewers Across NBC, Peacock, USA Network & CNBC
Largest Audience in 43 Nights of Winter Games Coverage (Day 10 of 2014 Sochi Olympics)
February 08, 2026
NBCUniversal’s presentation of the opening Saturday of Milan Cortina Winter Olympics competition averaged 28.5 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal Digital Platforms and Versant’s CNBC and USA Network – marking the most-watched Winter Games presentation since 2014 (Day 10 of 2014 Sochi Olympics), according to preliminary data from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
Led by NBC Broadcast Network, Viewership Up 92% from Opening Saturday of 2022 Beijing Olympics
Highlighted by U.S. figure skating stars Ilia Malinin, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the U.S. women’s hockey team facing Finland, American high schooler Ollie Martin in the snowboard competition, and curling, live coverage in the afternoon (Milan Prime: 2-5 p.m. ET) was followed by a primetime presentation (8-11 p.m. ET/PT).
Saturday’s blockbuster audience – the largest in the last 43 Winter Games shows (since Day 10 of the 2014 Sochi Olympics) and up 92% from the opening Saturday of the 2022 Beijing Olympics (14.8 million viewers) -- follows Friday’s Opening Ceremony, which averaged 21.4 million viewers.
Led by Peacock, Winter Games-Record 1.3 Billion Minutes Streamed on Saturday
Led by Peacock, an average of 4.1 million viewers streamed Saturday’s coverage across NBCUniversal digital platforms. In addition, viewers streamed a record 1.3 billion minutes of Milan Cortina Olympics coverage on Saturday – marking the first time more than 1 billion minutes were streamed on any Winter Olympics day.
Official Nielsen Big Data + Panel viewership will be available on Tuesday.
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.
Click here for more information on how to watch the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
