This month has been a historic one for NBC Sports, with Peacock‘s live sports streaming reaching a massive audience.
Citing Nielsen Big Data + Panel reach data and digital analytics, NBCU says 200 million viewers have watched the company’s “Legendary February” presentation, underscoring the streamer’s ability to handle live sports at scale. A few of the raw figures announced by the company include:
- 200.1 million Americans watched NBCUniversal’s “Legendary February” — an 11-day audience accumulation that covered the Super Bowl, the Milan Cortina Olympics and the return of Sunday Night Basketball.
- The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics is averaging 25.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock, and NBCUniversal’s platforms, roughly double the average at the same point in 2022 (12.8M).
- All six days of Milan prime + primetime coverage have topped 20 million viewers, with one show averaging 21.5 million.
- Peacock streamed 6.3 billion minutes of Milan Cortina Olympics content, topping the combined minutes from the previous two Winter Games (Beijing + PyeongChang = 6.1 billion minutes).
“This level of audience accumulation over just an 11-day period is exceptional in today’s media environment,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports, in a statement.
“Minutes streamed” is the clearest metric distinguishing broadcast reach from streaming influence. Audiences are watching extended live windows rather than sampling highlights. As the U.S. media home for the Olympic Games through 2036, including Milan‑Cortina 2026, Los Angeles 2028, French Alps 2030, Brisbane 2032, Utah 2034, and the 2036 Summer Games, those streamed minutes convert into higher ad inventory value, stronger retention signals, and greater leverage in future sports‑rights negotiations. The numbers show a hybrid future where big-event TV and big-event streaming feed each other.
How to Watch the 2026 Winter Olympics
- Competition runs Feb. 5–22, 2026, with the Opening Ceremony on Feb. 6. The Games begin a day before the ceremony with select events on Feb. 5.
- Peacock is the U.S. streaming home and will stream every sport and event — including all 116 medal events across 16 sports — while NBC remains the primary broadcast partner. That means live streams, full-event replays, original features, and clips will be centralized on Peacock and the NBC platform
- NBC will broadcast more programming hours than any previous Winter Olympics, including at least five hours of daytime coverage daily — featuring major events like skiing, figure skating, snowboarding, hockey, and speed skating — and extended Primetime in Milan nightly.
- USA Network and CNBC will carry supplemental daily coverage throughout the Games. CNBC typically begins its Olympic broadcasts after its business-day programming ends, while USA Network carries additional event coverage and stories that might not be in primetime on NBC. This helps expand the total amount of U.S. linear coverage beyond what NBC and Peacock alone provide.
- Other NBCU digital platforms, including NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, and NBC Sports app, will stream 2,500 hours of Winter Games coverage, which is available via authentication.
- Where to Stream: Peacock | DIRECTV | Sling TV | YouTube TV | Hulu + Live TV
- Watch for Free: With an antenna, you can watch NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics for free. Using a site like Antennas Direct can help you find which NBC affiliate is in your area and the best antenna to watch. New subscribers can also begin their trial of DIRECTV, YouTube TV, and Hulu + Live TV to see if they’re the right fit.