NBCUniversal‘s protection of the Milan Cortina Olympics‘ flashy opening ceremony averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a soar of 34% from the opening for the 2022 winter video games in Beijing, per preliminary knowledge from Nielsen and digital knowledge from Adobe Analytics.
The opener — which featured a stunning fireworks present of the Olympic rings, Mariah Carey’s Italian ballad efficiency and spectators’ distinguished geopolitical opinions on show by way of jeers for Vice President JD Vance and Israel’s group — kickstarted the preeminent worldwide sporting extavaganza from 4 totally different places.
Led by Peacock, it was NBCUniversal’s most-streamed winter video games opening ceremony ever, with its viewers up by almost six million viewers from Beijing’s 15.9 million watchers.
Some context for the feat: Peacock’s recognition has grown year-to-year since 2022, when it had simply 9 million standalone subscribers and one other 7 million by way of paid bundles. As of January 2026, the streamer’s subscriber depend stands at 44 million, so viewership positive factors are pure and to be anticipated. Moreover, Milan’s time distinction with the U.S. — simply six hours forward of the East Coast — is extra favorable for viewing than Beijing’s 13 hour distinction, fairly actually evening and day.
This can be a full-circle second for Peacock, the platform that originally launched to spice up and dedicate protection to the 2020 Olympics, which have been in fact delayed by the pandemic. There was a giant push to cowl the opening ceremony stay this yr, with featured commentary, together with from three-time Olympic gold medalist Shaun White, which drew a whole lot of hype and, evidently, viewership outcomes.
“We’re off to a powerful begin with Friday’s fascinating Opening Ceremony highlighted by the historic cities, the scenic mountain areas, and the Parade of Athletes,” mentioned Rick Cordella, President of NBC Sports activities, in a press release. “The Opening Ceremony viewers exceeded our expectations, and we are able to’t look forward to the following two weeks of competitors.”
The scores document prolonged past the video games as effectively, with final evening’s episode of The Tonight Present Starring Jimmy Fallon, which adopted primetime opening ceremony protection, scoring the present’s most-watched telecast since Thanksgiving, averaging 2.3 million viewers.
NBCUniversal owns the U.S. media rights to the Olympic Video games by way of 2036, which can subsequent be held in Los Angeles (2028), the French Alps (2030), Brisbane (2032) and Utah (2034). The venue for the 2036 summer time video games is but undecided.
