Many wondered four years ago if NBC’s 2014 decision to secure U.S. media rights to the Olympics through 2032 for $7.75 billion was a bad business deal.
With NBC having its most-watched Winter Games in 12 years, those concerns appear to have quieted.
According to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, NBC averaged 24 million viewers across its prime afternoon coverage (2-5 p.m. EST) and Primetime in Milan (8-11 p.m. EST and PST) through Friday. That is a 94% improvement over the 2022 Beijing Games.
This is the second straight Olympics where viewers have returned in large numbers. The 2024 Paris Summer Games were up 82% from 2021 in Tokyo.
Complete numbers from the 17 days — including the United States’ 2-1 overtime victory over Canada in men’s hockey Sunday morning — are expected to be released on Monday.
