Warner Bros. Discovery’s Winter Olympics streaming breaks record – triple-digit growth in Europe
Milan-Cortina 2026: Viewership increases across linear channels and streaming platforms compared to Beijing 2022*
Most successful Winter Olympics streamed ever: over 1,000 hours of coverage on HBO Max and Discovery+, plus popular new features including Olympics Multiview
Social media video views exceed 4 billion (+580% vs. Beijing 2022) across Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK & Ireland)
The return of the Winter Olympics to Europe, combined with world-class coverage and a highly innovative streaming experience, has driven significant viewership and user engagement growth across Warner Bros. Discovery’s (WBD) European platforms.
Highlights from the seventeen days of competition (February 6-22, 2026) and the two days leading up to the opening ceremony (February 4-5, 2026), when several sports began competing, include:
Streaming (HBO Max and Discovery+):
The most successful streaming Winter Olympics in Warner Bros. Discovery history (compared to Beijing 2022 and Pyeongchang 2018).
Triple-digit growth in total hours watched (+103% compared to Beijing 2022) – with triple-digit growth in France, Germany and Italy (HBO Max), and the United Kingdom (Discovery+).
HBO Max and Discovery+ had three times as many viewers streaming the event (+234%) as they did during the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The number of subscribers streaming the Milan-Cortina Olympics exceeded the number of viewers who watched the entire Beijing 2022 Games after just three days.**
Video views on Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (UK & Ireland) exceeded 4 billion, all driving viewers to their respective streaming platforms.
Innovative streaming features helped drive engagement and viewership. The full Olympic experience on HBO Max and Discovery+ included:
Live coverage of all 246 events – with up to 11 parallel events at peak times, including 116 medal events; featuring a total of 2,900 athletes, over 19 days.
Nearly a third (32%) of users used the Olympics Multiview feature, which for the first time allowed viewers to watch up to four Olympic events simultaneously on one screen, with the audio of their choice.
Gold Medal Notifications and Timeline Markers helped navigate between concurrent live events; personalized watch lists were used by the majority of users; and live broadcasts were available in up to 21 commentary languages.
Commenting on the Milan-Cortina 2026 Games, Andrew Georgiou, President and CEO of WBD Sports Europe, said: “The success of the opening days carried through to the Games, delivering a highly successful Winter Games for Warner Bros. Discovery, with significant growth in streaming viewership and user engagement, while our linear channels also achieved extremely strong audiences. The Olympic broadcasts on HBO Max and Discovery+ clearly resonated with UK and European viewers, with three times as many people choosing to stream as they did during the Beijing 2022 Games. The freedom to choose from 116 live events and innovative features such as single-screen Multiview significantly increased viewing time on our streaming platforms. This Olympics sets a very strong foundation for the Los Angeles 2028 Games and for the Olympic Winter Games to continue to grow.” Return to Europe in 2030, in the French Alps.”
On linear channels (Eurosport in Europe; TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland)*:
Linear viewing increased by 3% compared to the 2022 Beijing Games, reversing the general downward trend in TV viewing in recent years and continuing to account for the majority of live coverage.
Total viewing hours increased by more than 50% (+51%) compared to the Beijing 2022 Olympics, and in Hungary, viewing hours on Eurosport 1 increased by 103%.
WBD’s streaming platforms, HBO Max (Europe) and Discovery+ (UK), were the only places where all the events could be followed live, while its linear channels – Eurosport in Europe and TNT Sports in the UK and Ireland – provided comprehensive, full Olympic coverage to millions of fans.
Press release … images by the individuals named under the snaps.
Update by Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 