2026 Olympics Are Already the Most-Streamed Winter Games, Beating 2018 and 2022 Combined
What To Know
- The 2026 Winter Olympics have already become the most-streamed Winter Games ever, with 6.3 billion minutes viewed—surpassing the combined streaming totals of the 2018 and 2022 Olympics.
- Average viewership for these Olympics across NBCUniversal platforms has reached 25.7 million, marking the highest Winter Games audience since Sochi 2014.
- Super Bowl LX, also aired by NBC this February, drew an average of 125 million viewers, making it the second most-watched broadcast in U.S. television history.
NBCUniversal dubbed this month Legendary February, since the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Super Bowl LX game, and the launch of NBC’s Sunday Night Basketball were all aligning. But the much-hyped sports events have made February legendary for the company, too.
In a press release on Thursday, NBCUniversal announced that viewers have streamed 6.3 billion minutes of Milan Cortina Olympics coverage on Peacock and other streaming platforms through Wednesday, with more than a week of Olympics action remaining. That viewership beat the full viewership of the last two winter games combined: Viewers streamed 6.1 billion minutes of the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and the 2022 games in Beijing.
The 2026 Winter Olympics had already set the record for the most-streamed Winter Games with Tuesday’s total of 5.3 billion minutes, up 36% from the entire 2022 Olympics (3.9 billion) and more than double the entire 2018 Olympics (2.2 billion).
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
NBCUniversal also noted on Thursday that these Winter Games were averaging 25.7 million viewers on NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal’s digital platforms, and spinoff media company Versant’s CNBC and USA Network through Wednesday, the best performance for a Winter Games since the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
And Super Bowl LX — in which the Seattle Seahawks trounced the New England Patriots on Sunday, February 8 — also delivered a huge audience to NBC. As NBC Sports President Rick Cordella noted during a media conference call, the game averaged 125 million viewers to become the second most-watched broadcast in U.S. television history. It also scored the largest peak audience in U.S. TV history with 137.8 million viewers watching in the second quarter.
“This level of audience accumulation over just an 11-day period is exceptional in today’s media environment,” Cordella said in Thursday’s press release. “We look forward to continued momentum, with Team USA in contention for many medals in upcoming Olympic competition, and the return of NBA All-Star Weekend to NBC for the first time in more than two decades.”
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