NBCUniversal also touted the stellar performance in its 17-day coverage of the Games, as Team USA finished the Milan-Cortina Olympics with 12 gold medals (the highest score in Winter Games history). The company said this was the most-watched Winter Olympics in the United States since 2014.
This year’s Winter Games coverage (3,200 hours, spanning 116 events) averaged 23.5 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal’s digital platforms, Versant’s USA Network and CNBC. This includes the “Milan Prime” afternoon time slot (2:00 PM to 5:00 PM ET) and the US prime time (8:00 PM to 11:00 PM) time slot. According to NBCU, this was the best Winter Games performance since the 2014 Sochi Games and a 96% increase from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games (12 million attendees).
According to NBCU, the average number of viewers for all 15 competition days (February 7 to February 21) was more than 20 million. Additionally, “Milan Prime” (Live Daytime) and “Milan Primetime” were streamed by an average of 3.3 million viewers daily across Peacock and NBCU Digital.
Among the big events, the U.S. women’s hockey team’s victory over Canada on Thursday became the most-watched women’s hockey game ever (5.3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock).
Among local markets, Milwaukee topped the list with a 13.7 rating/49 share, followed by Minneapolis (13.5/53) and Fort Myers, Florida (13.1/42). On the social front, NBCU announced that Milan-Cortina Olympic content received 4.28 billion impressions across NBC Sports’ social channels, an increase of 437% compared to the 2022 Beijing Olympics and a 231% increase compared to the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.
“This Olympics has captured people’s imaginations in ways no one could have predicted,” said Molly Solomon, executive producer and president of NBC Olympic Productions. “The setting was stunningly beautiful and provided a spectacular backdrop for the intense competition. Technology, including enhanced audio and drones, coupled with unprecedented access to the athletes and their lives, allowed us to immerse the audience into their stories in fresh and meaningful ways. And Team USA represented the best in each of us, making us very excited for many Olympic Games to come.”
“The Milan-Cortina Olympics proves once again that American spectators will flock to the United States in droves over 17 days to experience this unique global competition,” said Gary Zenkel, NBC Olympic agent. Produced and distributed by the team, these Winter Olympics reached a blockbuster U.S. audience of more than 50 million viewers daily, continuing the media dominance experienced at the Paris Olympics less than two years ago. We can’t wait for the return of the Olympics.” With the Olympics set to come to the United States along with the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, we are excited to be home to U.S. media for five Olympic Games over the next decade. ”
The Winter Olympics capped off what NBCU called “The Legendary February,” when the Winter Olympics, the first Super Bowl, and the NBA All-Star Game were all held in the same month.
“Starting with the debut of Sunday Night Basketball on February 1, NBC Sports and Olympic officials have delivered a truly ‘Legendary February’ to viewers on NBC, Telemundo, Peacock, Versant’s USA Network and CNBC, undoubtedly exceeding our expectations,” said NBC Sports President Rick Cordella.
With a schedule of sporting events like this, Peacock boasts its best month ever and has helped boost entertainment like “The Barbs,” which had Peacock’s best opening day original debut. Additionally, four of Peacock’s all-time top 10 usage days and seven of its top 10 biggest reach days occurred during the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
