Ratings Roundup: NBC Sports Takes Gold With Milano Cortina 2026 Viewership Hitting All Time Highs

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, ESPN sees highest viewership of regular season men's college basketball to date; NASCAR Cup Series in Atlanta averaged 4.5 million viewers per minute; and more.

Nearly 21 Million Viewers Watched NBCUniversal's Coverage of USA-Canada Olympic Men's Gold Medal Hockey Game, Peaking at 26 Million for Game-Winning Goal on NBC & Peacock

Team USA's thrilling 2-1 overtime victory against Canada in Sunday's Milan Cortina Olympics men's gold medal hockey game was watched by 20.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Versant's USA Network, and peaked at 26.0 million live viewers on NBC and Peacock for the game-winning goal, based on Nielsen Big Data Panel and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The USA-Canada gold-medal game delivered an average live audience of 18.6 million viewers on NBC and Peacock (8:15-11 a.m. ET), which:

Marks the most-watched pre-9 a.m. ET (start time) sporting event on record in U.S. history.

Ranks as NBC Sports' second-most watched hockey game ever, behind only the USA-Canada men's gold medal game at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, which had a more favorable puck drop time of 3:15 p.m. ET (27.6 million viewers).

Includes NBC Sports' most-watched streaming audience (excluding NFL), with an average of 3.7 million viewers, led by Peacock.

As the final medal event, the gold-medal hockey game was a fitting crescendo to a spectacular 17 days of Milan Cortina Winter Olympic competition that we were so honored to present, says NBC Sports president Rick Cordella. We applaud all the athletes, organizers, and our gracious hosts, and thank our passionate Team NBC colleagues who worked tirelessly to bring these Winter Games, Super Bowl LX, and the NBA All-Star Game to more than 215 million Americans in our Legendary February.'

Jack Hughes wins it! The golden goal for the United States! For the first time since the 1980 Miracle, the United States takes the gold! - Kenny Albert

An astounding average of 26.0 million viewers on NBC and Peacock were watching between 10:45-11 a.m. ET as Kenny Albert called Jack Hughes' overtime game-winner for Team USA (10:52 a.m. ET). The victory marked the United States' first Olympic gold medal in men's hockey since 1980.

For all the young people out there, not just the hockey, but all the Olympics you've watched, those dreams are for now. Go chase them and go get them. Because our country loves sports and it brings us together unlike anything else. - Mike Tirico

Following NBC Olympics host Mike Tirico's memorable sign-off, NBCUniversal made the gold-medal game replay available on-demand on Peacock, presented a full encore on USA Network at 4 p.m. ET, and aired a two-hour version of the game on NBC stations following their late local news on Sunday event. Collectively, those presentations delivered 2.1 million viewers.

NBC's Sunday Night Sports Strategy Leads Network to #1 in Primetime on 23 of Past 25 Sunday Nights

NBC, after recently announcing additional high profile Sunday primetime sports programming, has been dominating Sunday nights for the past six months. From Sept. 7, 2025, through this past Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, NBC Sports programming has powered the NBC broadcast network to finish No. 1 in primetime among all networks on 23 of 25 Sundays, according to official Nielsen Big Data Panel.

The Philadelphia 76ers visit the Boston Celtics in one of the NBA's storied rivalries this weekend on Sunday Night Basketball (8 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock), as NBC Sports continues its new year-round primetime sports programming on the same night each week - a broadcast network first.

NBC Sports' Mike Tirico (play-by-play) - working his 25th Sunday night event on NBC since Sept. 7 - calls the game alongside Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Reggie Miller (analyst), three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jamal Crawford, and Zora Stephenson (courtside reporter).

We're excited to build upon our historically dominant Sunday night partnership with the NFL, as well as three blockbuster Sundays of the Milan Cortina Olympics, the NBA All-Star Game, Sunday Night Basketball and coming soon, the April 12 NBC debut of Sunday Night Baseball, says NBC Sports president Rick Cordella. NBC and Peacock are now the year-round platforms for premier Sunday night sports programming.

NBC Sports' Sunday Nights on NBC vs. Broadcast Competition

Over the past six months, NBC has dominated primetime Sundays, more than doubling the competition's combined (P2 ) viewership with an even larger advantage in the Adult 18-49 demographic.

NBC ABC CBS FOX NBC Advantage

Avg. Viewers (P2 ) 21.6 million 10.4 million 109%

Adults 18-49 7.3 million 2.2 million 231%

NBC Sports' Sunday Nights on NBC vs. Broadcast Competition, Excluding Super Bowl LX

Even excluding the Super Bowl - annually America's most watched program by a large margin - NBC maintains a major advantage.

NBC ABC CBS FOX NBC Advantage

Avg. Viewers (P2 ) 18.1 million 10.6 million 69%

Adults 18-49 5.7 million 2.3 million 152%

Among NBC Sports' Sunday night highlights on the NBC Broadcast Network since Sept. 7, 2025:

Super Bowl LX is Most Watched Show in NBC's 100-Year History

Milan Cortina Olympics is Most-Watched Winter Games since 2014

NBC Sports Delivers Most-Watched NBA All-Star Game since 2011

Rams-Bears Thriller is NBC Sports' Most-Watched NFL Divisional Playoff Game Ever

NBC Sunday Night Football Pacing to Be Primetime's #1 Show For Unprecented 15th Consecutive Year

Celtics-Lakers on Sunday Night Basketball Last Week Was Most-Watched NBA Regular-Season Sunday Night Game Since 2000

SailGP Secures New Global Viewership Record

LINK:	https://www.sportsvideo.org/2026/02/27/ratings-roundup-nbc-sports-take...
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