Milano Cortina 2026/opening ceremony: 9.2 million viewers in Italy, 5.2 M in Germany, 21 M in the USA

The opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games drew an average of 9.27 million viewers on the public-TV channel Rai 1 on Friday 06/02/2026 (from 20:00 CET) in Italy, according to data from the audience measurement institute Auditel.

This figure represented an audience share of 46.2%. The event was also broadcast live on the Warner Bros. Discovery group's channels, owner of Eurosport and HBO Max, which holds the pay-TV broadcasting rights for the Olympic Games in Europe until 2032.

• In Germany, the ceremony drew an average of 5.23 million viewers on the public-TV channel Das Erste (ARD), according to data from the audience measurement institute AGF. Audience share: 22.3%.

• In Spain, the event attracted an average of 194,000 viewers on the free-TV channel Teledeporte (RTVE), according to data from audience measurement institute Kantar. Audience share: 1.8%.

• In the United States, the ceremony was watched by an average of 21.4 million viewers on the channels of the American group NBCUniversal (from 14:00, Eastern time), an increase in audience of 34% compared to 2022…