(Warner Bros. Discovery image)
Warner Bros. Discovery Says Milan Cortina Winter Olympics European Streaming Views Increased 103%
February 23, 2026
The return of the Olympic Winter Games to Europe (in Milan and Cortina, Italy) combined with the rollout of HBO Max, along with existing Discovery+ and Eurosport, drove significant growth in viewership and engagement across Warner Bros. Discovery’s European platforms.
WBD’s streaming platforms were the only exclusive platforms to watch every event broadcast live across Europe, while its linear channels Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (U.K. and Ireland) delivered comprehensive Games-time coverage.
NBCUniversal’s Peacock and NBC Sports had exclusive U.S. rights to the Games.
Max and Discovery+ combined to generate the best-ever streaming Olympic Winter Games when compared with Beijing in 2022 and South Korea’s PyeongChang in 2018.
Total hours streamed skyrocketed 103% compared with Beijing 2022, including triple-digit growth in France, Germany, Italy (on Max) and the U.K. (Discovery+), according to Warner Bros. Discovery.
Max was available in select European markets in 2022 following a phased rollout that began in late 2021.
Max and Discovery+ saw three times more viewers (234%) than Beijing 2022. Total subscribers streaming Milano-Cortina 2026 content exceeded those that viewed the entire Beijing 2022 Games after only three days.
Social video views on Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (U.K. and Ireland) accounts exceeded 4 billion.
WBD said Max and Discovery+ helped drive viewership by presenting all 246 sports events live, peaking at 11 concurrent events, including 116 medal contests and 2,900 athletes competing across 19 days.
Approximately 32% of streamers utilized “Olympics Multiview,” allowing viewers to watch up to four Olympics events concurrently on a single screen with their choice of audio.
Streamers were also empowered through “Gold Medal Alerts,” and “Timeline Markers,” offering “Personalized Watch Lists” that were utilized by the majority of users, allowing users to select from up to 21 commentary languages for their live coverage.
“Watching the Games on HBO Max and Discovery+ clearly resonated with audiences in the U.K. and Europe,” Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director for WBD Sports Europe, said in a statement.
“This Olympics has set an incredibly strong foundation as we look to Los Angeles 2028 and the Olympic Winter Games returning to Europe again for French Alps 2030,” he said.
Linear (Eurosport in Europe; TNT Sports in the U.K and Ireland) saw a 3% increase in viewers versus Beijing 2022, marking a reverse of declines in total TV consumption over this period and driving the bulk of overall live viewing.
WBD reported more than 50% linear growth (on Eurosport channels) in hours viewed overall compared to Beijing 2022.
France upped its viewership 47% in hours viewed, Germany was up 50% in hours viewed, and Poland was up 32% in hours viewed. TNT Sports channels (U.K and Ireland only) increased more than 60% versus Beijing 2022.
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