Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Averaging Nearly 24 Million Viewers – Best Since 2014 Sochi Olympics
U.S. Men’s Hockey’s Thrilling OT Victory Over Sweden Peaked at 8.9 Million Viewers, and Averaged 6.9 Million in Most Watched Olympic Men’s Hockey Game since 2010 Vancouver Gold Medal Game (U.S.-Canada)
Led by Peacock, Milan Cortina Olympics Extends Winter Games Streaming Record to 12.9 Billion Minutes
STAMFORD, Conn. – February 19, 2026 – Led by Mikaela Shiffrin’s dominating gold-medal win in the slalom and the men’s hockey quarterfinals, NBCUniversal’s Milan Cortina Winter Olympics coverage averaged 20.2 million viewers yesterday 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
Wednesday marked the 13th 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.
Highlighting afternoon coverage on NBC and Peacock, the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team’s 2-1 overtime victory against Sweden averaged 6.9 million viewers – marking the most watched Olympic men’s hockey game since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics gold-medal game (U.S. vs. Canada). The game’s audience peaked at 8.9 million viewers from 5:30-5:45 p.m. ET.
Additional highlights:
- Through Wednesday, the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is averaging 23.9 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 90% from the 2022 Beijing Olympics at this point (12.6 million).
- Led by Peacock, a record 12.9 billion minutes of Milan Cortina Olympics content have been streamed, topping by 87% all prior Winter Games combined (6.9 billion minutes).
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.
--NBC OLYMPICS--
