Winter Olympic Games 2026 is most-watched ever for European broadcasters

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said that its members, spanning linear and digital platforms, consistently outperformed their typical market shares and dominated national viewing charts.

In Austria, the national broadcaster’s coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 became the most-watched Games in the broadcaster’s history, reaching 6.138 million viewers, or 81% of the TV population aged 12 and over, across more than 500 hours of coverage on Österreichischer Rundfunk (ORF) 1 and ORF Sport +.

Digital engagement was also record-breaking, with 290 million minutes streamed and 28 million video views, marking ORF’s strongest Olympic performance online since measurement began.

In the Czech Republic, national broadcaster Česká televize (CT) reported that the Winter Olympics coverage on ČT Sport and ČT Sport Plus reached approximately 7.39 million viewers. This marks a substantial increase compared to Beijing 2022’s 5.46 million reach. The increase is believed to be partly due to the favourable European time zone.

The most-watched broadcast of the Games was the Czechia vs Canada ice hockey quarter-final, which averaged around 2.3 million viewers with a 59.5% audience share. It achieved a total reach of nearly 3.9 million viewers.

In Finland, the country’s broadcasting company Yleisradio Oy (Yle) reached 4.5 million viewers on linear broadcast, up from 4.1 million for both Beijing 2022 and Paris 2024. Daily TV reach averaged 2.5 million viewers and an average market share of 47.9%, while the ice hockey semi-final between Canada and Finland peaked at 2 million.

Digital audiences also reached new heights, with 898 million minutes viewed on Yle Areena, marking 69% growth from Paris 2024 and 165% growth compared with Beijing 2022.

In France, more than 50 million viewers followed coverage on France Télévisions, delivering a higher reach than Torino 2006. France 2 peaked at 6.5 million viewers, capturing a 52% audience share, during coverage of the French biathletes’ gold- and silver-medal triumph.

In Germany, the Association of Public Broadcasters (ARD) and Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) delivered similarly strong performances. ARD reached around 40 million viewers on Das Erste, equivalent to almost half of the German population. Its Olympic broadcasts averaged 3.14 million viewers with a 23.2% market share, rising to 34.5% among 14- to 29-year-olds, while peak audiences hit 6.79 million for the doubles luge bronze medal race. Digital engagement was particularly strong, generating more than 85 million video views across the ARD Mediathek and Sportschau.de, including over 65 million livestream views, with the first week marking the highest usage in ARD Mediathek history.

ZDF recorded an average viewership of around 3.2 million and a 23.3% market share across its coverage. Peak events, including luge and the biathlon mixed relay, attracted more than 6.5 million viewers, with the mixed relay reaching a 45.6% share. The Closing Ceremony was watched by approximately 4.28 million viewers, achieving an 18.9% market share.

In Italy, engagement reached exceptional levels: two out of three Italians watched RAI’s coverage of the Games, marking a higher proportion than for Paris 2024. The Opening Ceremony attracted more than 9.2 million viewers and a 46% share of the host nation, while the Closing Ceremony drew over 6.2 million viewers and a 31% share, demonstrating sustained nationwide interest from start to finish.

In the Netherlands, Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (NOS) coverage reached approximately 12.3 million viewers, representing around 73.8% of the population, across the Games period. In addition to strong linear TV reach, NOS recorded substantial digital engagement, with around 55 million visits to Olympic content via NOS.nl and the NOS app, and approximately 17 million livestream starts during the Winter Games.

Norsk Rikskringkasting (NRK) delivered record engagement for its coverage across Norway, reaching 4.1 million people across linear TV and online, equivalent to around 87% of the population aged 10- to 79-years-old. The most-watched event was the men’s 50km mass start in cross-country skiing, which averaged 839,000 viewers, achieved a 94% market share, and peaked at 1.178 million viewers.

Digital performance was also strong, with 14.7 million total hours viewed on NRK TV during the Games and a digital reach of 2.169 million people, or 45.7% of the population, on NRK TV alone. The platform set multiple daily records, including a peak of 2.5 million hours viewed in a single day.

In Poland, Telewizja Polska (TVP) recorded significant growth compared with Beijing 2022, with TVP 1 averaging 621,697 viewers for live Olympic coverage, while TVP Sport more than doubled its Beijing performance, averaging 270,286 viewers.

In Sweden, Sveriges Television (SVT) reached 7.4 million viewers with its coverage, meaning that around seven out of 10 Swedes watched the Games on SVT. This represents the broadcaster’s highest Olympic reach since it last held the rights in 2012, despite having live rights to only around half of the events.

Digital performance was also strong, with almost 4 million people reached online and nearly 40 million video starts across live streams and clips.

Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV SLO) recorded its strongest Olympic broadcast performance in a decade, reaching 75% of the population in Slovenia, or around 1.43 million people, across TV, radio, and digital platforms. More than 200 hours of original programming drove strong engagement, with ski jumping on 15 February 2026 peaking at a 66% audience share and averaging 583,300 viewers per minute.

In Slovakia, Slovak Television and Radio (STVR) delivered historic results during its Milano Cortina 2026 coverage, led by the Olympic ice hockey quarterfinal between Slovakia and Germany. The match averaged 835,000 viewers aged 12+ on the Šport channel with a 66.8% market share, peaking at 956,000 viewers. It became the most-watched programme across the entire Slovak TV market, outperforming major news broadcasts.

Online engagement was also record-breaking, with just under 843,000 livestream plays on stvr.sk – the highest ever recorded for the platform.

In Switzerland, the Schweizerische Radio- und Fernsehgesellschaft (SRG) broadcasters Radio Télévision Suisse (RTS), Radiotelevisione Svizzera (RSI), and Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) reached 4.8 million TV viewers with their coverage of the Games. Alpine skiing proved particularly popular, with several men’s and women’s races averaging over 1 million viewers nationwide and delivering market shares of around 80%. The men’s downhill drew 1.2 million viewers, the women’s downhill garnered 1.1 million, and the men’s giant slalom brought in 1.1 million. Ice hockey and curling also generated strong audiences, reaching 2.4 million and 2.3 million viewers respectively across the event.

Beyond linear broadcasting, SRG’s digital platforms recorded more than 30 million livestream views, demonstrating significant cross-platform engagement throughout the Olympics.

In Ukraine, Suspilne adapted its Milano Cortina 2026 coverage strategy in response to nationwide electricity shortages, placing increased emphasis on digital distribution and social media highlights while maintaining a strong linear presence on Suspilne Sport. The linear channel achieved a reach of approximately 5 million Ukrainians, while the Suspilne Sport YouTube channel also reached 5 million users, marking a platform record.

Social media engagement reached new highs, with 66 million views across YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, the broadcaster’s strongest Olympic performance ever on social platforms. Website streaming also delivered record Winter Olympic results in Ukraine, generating 714,473 hours watched with an average viewing time of 24 minutes and 44 seconds.

In the UK, BBC Sport’s coverage of the Winter Olympic Games 2026 delivered its largest overall audience consumption ever, driven by a record 83 million streams and more than 44 million streamed hours across BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, and app.

A total of 26.3 million viewers tuned in on TV, with a peak audience of 5.5 million for Team GB’s men’s curling final on BBC One. Social coverage generated 235 million views, confirming the Games as the most widely consumed Winter Olympics ever on the BBC.

Andreas Aristodemou, Director of Olympics at EBU, said: “Milano Cortina 2026 stands as the strongest Winter Olympic Games on record for EBU Members, with audiences across Europe engaging at historic levels from Opening Ceremony through to the final medal events.

“The breadth of engagement across broadcast, streaming, and digital platforms confirms the continued importance of universal access to major sporting events for audiences across Europe.”

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) also recently reported strong viewership results for its coverage of the Olympic Winter Games for Milano-Cortina 2026. Discover more here.