Story byIlia Malinin of Team United States competes in Men's Single Skating - Short Program Team Event on day one of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 07, 2026 in Milan, Italy (Jamie Squire/)Stephanie KaloiSun, February 8, 2026 at 11:39 PM UTC·2 min readThe opening Saturday of the Milano Cortina Games was the most-watched day of Olympics coverage since 2014, averaging 28.5 million views across NBC, Peacock, USA Network, and CNBC, the network said Sunday. Saturday boasted the largest audience in 43 nights of Winter Games coverage since Day 10 of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. The day’s events included performances from Team USA figure skating stars Ilia Malinin, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, the women’s hockey game against Finland, and a snowboard competition featuring high school student Ollie Martin. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementPeacock led the pack with 4.1 million viewers across NBCUniversal digital platforms. Viewers also recorded 1.3 billion minutes of Milan Cortina coverage on Saturday, the first time more than 1 billion minutes were streamed on any Winter Olympics coverage day. NBCUniversal owns the U. S.