Winter Olympics 2026 Opening Ceremony Scores 21.4 Million Viewers Across NBC, Peacock, Up 34% From Beijing

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games kicked off to a solid ratings start with its opening ceremony reaching 21.4 million viewers, a 34% uptick from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

The opening ceremony, which kicked off at 11 a.m. Pt/2 p.m. Et, brought in the viewers across NBC and Peacock, according to live-plus-same-day Nielsen data and NBCUniversal internal viewing figures.

As expected, the ceremony, which was expected to last three hours but stretched closer to three hours and 40 minutes, saw a notable uptick in viewership when compared to the opener for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, which began at 6:30 a.m. Et and aired again during primetime.

Beijing’s opening ceremony…