STAMFORD, Conn.—NBCUniversal reported that the Milan Cortina Olympics Opening Ceremony Friday night averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock—up 34% from the Opening Ceremony from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, according to preliminary data from Nielsen and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
With coverage live in the afternoon (“Milan Prime”) followed by a special primetime presentation, the Opening Ceremony audience of 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock was nearly six million viewers larger than the Beijing Opening Ceremony (15.9 million), the network claimed.
“We are off to a strong start with Friday’s captivating Opening Ceremony highlighted by the historic cities, the scenic mountain areas, and the Parade of Athletes,” said Rick Cordella, President, NBC Sports. “The Opening Ceremony audience exceeded our expectations, and we can’t wait for the next two weeks of competition.”
NBC said the Opening Ceremony was “the most-streamed for any Winter Games,” averaging more than 3 million viewers. Led by Peacock, Milan Cortina Olympics streaming consumption across NBCUniversal platforms exceeded 700 million minutes through Friday—most ever for a Winter Games and 2.5 times greater than the 2022 Beijing Olympics through the comparable time frame.
NBC’s Peacock streaming service has grown significantly since the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, when it had approximately 13 million paid subscribers compared to approximately 41-42 million currently.
The Milan Olympics Opening Ceremony also delivered the highest search engagement rate ever for advertisers in an Olympics Opening Ceremony (summer or winter), up +63% vs. Beijing 2022 and up +26% vs. Paris 2024, the network said. The event also outpaced other premium TV properties - viewers were +97% more likely to search for brands who advertised in the Opening Ceremony than those in major league sports and +84% more likely to search vs. primetime TV, according to EDO, Linear, Primetime.
Official Nielsen Big Data + Panel viewership will be available on Tuesday.
