The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony on Friday that averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games kicked off to a solid ratings start with its opening ceremony, seeing a 34% uptick from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony, which kicked off at 11 a.

NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Milan Cortina Olympics’ flashy opening ceremony averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a jump of 34% from the opening for the 2022 winter games in Beijing, per preliminary data from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The 2026 Winter Olympics are entering the home stretch. Here's a look at the rest of the schedule at the Milano Cortina Games, including how to watch.

Team USA women’s hockey competes for gold to highligh TV schedule for Thursday. All events will stream on Peacock, and select others will air on NBC and USA Network with the first events at 3 a.m. ET.