Milan Cortina 2026 becomes most-watched Winter Paralympics on record

NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Milan Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games reached a record 22.7 million total viewers across NBC, USA Network and CNBC over 10 days, marking the most-watched Winter Paralympics on record.

The company said the total audience nearly doubled viewership from the Beijing 2022 Games and increased 47% compared with the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympics, based on Nielsen and Adobe Analytics data.

Coverage included multiple viewership milestones, including the most-watched Winter Paralympics telecast and the most-watched sled hockey game on record. Primetime coverage on March 7 averaged 1.4 million viewers, while overall Total Audience Delivery averaged 1.1 million viewers across NBC and Peacock.

The Opening Ceremony on March 6 drew the largest audience for a Winter Paralympics opening since Salt Lake City in 2002, airing on USA Network and Peacock from Verona, Italy.

Team USA’s 6-2 win over Canada in the sled hockey gold medal game on March 15 averaged 1.2 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and CNBC, setting a new record for the sport. The game peaked at 1.4 million viewers as the U.S. secured its fifth consecutive gold medal.

Streaming also reached new highs, with nearly 100 million total minutes viewed across platforms, led by Peacock.

Digital viewership was four times higher than all previous Winter Paralympics combined.

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