NBC’s big Olympics bet looks smarter as Milan audience up 94% from
Beijing
[February 23, 2026]
By JOE REEDY
Many wondered four years ago if NBC’s 2014 decision to secure U.S. media
rights to the Olympics through 2032 for $7.75 billion was a bad business
deal.
With NBC having its most-watched Winter Games in 12 years, those
concerns appear to have quieted.
According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, NBC averaged 24 million
viewers across its prime afternoon coverage (2-5 p.m. EST) and Primetime
in Milan (8-11 p.m. EST and PST) through Friday. That is a 94%
improvement over the 2022 Beijing Games.
This is the second straight Olympics where viewers have returned in
large numbers. The 2024 Paris Summer Games were up 82% from 2021 in
Tokyo.
Complete numbers from the 17 days — including the United States’ 2-1
overtime victory over Canada in men’s hockey Sunday morning — are
expected to be released on Monday.
“I think that the Paris Games deserve a lot of the credit for
rejuvenating that interest and enthusiasm, and some of that momentum
continued through to Milan,” NBC Sports President Rick Cordella said
from Milan.
Molly Solomon, NBC's president and executive producer for the Olympics,
and her team also deserve credit for changing the network’s coverage
approach after Beijing.
Instead of waiting until prime time to showcase key sports, those events
were shown live via streaming along with NBC’s network and cable
channels. The primetime show was reimagined to highlight key events with
more interviews and analysis to supplement what viewers might have seen
live earlier in the day.
“How do we best make sure that we are continuing to tell the story (of
athletes) after they leave the venues? I do think that one of the
improvements we made from our Paris coverage was to follow the athletes
to their after-parties and reunions with their friends and families,”
said Solomon, who is overseeing coverage from NBC Sports’ headquarters
in Stamford, Connecticut.
“When Alex Ferreira won (the gold medal in men’s halfpipe), we went to
the bar where he was celebrating. There was a Team USA celebration for
Mikaela Shiffrin, where we were there for the toast, and she talked
about not being able to help Breezy Johnson get on the platform.
“These athletes trusted us to have our cameras there, and I do think it
made for even richer storytelling and taking the audience there.”
NBC adopted a format used for years in other countries while also
listening to viewers who demanded change. NBC had streamed all Olympic
sports since the 2012 London Games, but took a big leap when NBC
Universal launched Peacock in 2020.
Through Friday, 14.8 billion minutes of the Milan Games had been
streamed in the U.S., more than doubling the total for all prior Winter
Games combined (6.9 billion).
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United States' goalie Connor Hellebuyck celebrates after the United
States beat Canada in overtime in the men's gold medal hockey game
at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
 Viewer gains can also be credited to
the U.S. team’s performance, which underperformed in Tokyo and
Beijing. Those games were played in hermetically sealed environments
with mostly empty venues due to COVID-19.
Thursday’s win by the U.S. in women’s hockey over Canada in overtime
and Alysa Liu’s gold medal in figure skating averaged 26.7 million
across NBC, USA Network, Peacock, and NBCUniversal’s other digital
platforms.
USA Network and Peacock averaged 5.3 million viewers for the
gold-medal hockey game, making it the most-watched women’s hockey
game on record. It peaked at 7.7 million in overtime when Megan
Keller scored the game-winning goal.
“It was truly a golden hour. We popped between control rooms, and
you just never know what’s going to happen,” Solomon said. “The
energy in our control rooms on site, we couldn’t believe the
confluence of drama and excitement, but that really is what the
Olympics is about. It’s unpredictable, thrilling, and it just
coincided in the golden 64 minutes.”
NBC is poised to continue the momentum for the next two games. The
2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles will have wall-to-wall live
coverage throughout the day, while the 2030 Winter Games in the
French Alps will see NBC return to the coverage formula that worked
in Paris and Milan.
The 2032 Summer Games in Brisbane, Australia, will have challenges
because most events will take place overnight in the U.S., but the
2034 Winter Games in Salt Lake City will again provide another live
Olympics.
NBC has the rights to the Olympics through 2036. It agreed to the
2034 and ’36 Games last year for $3 billion.
“Paris begets Milan, and Milan will beget LA. I think the Olympics
are just unique in many respects,” Cordella said. “The U.S.-Swiss
curling match, there are hundreds of thousands of people online
streaming. They’re seeking it out and watching these matchups of
these athletes; they probably didn’t know about them before the
Olympics began. It’s compelling TV, and that’s kind of what the
Olympics does.”
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