Men’s Sports Lead The First 10 Nights Of NBC’s Primetime Milan Cortina Winter Olympic Broadcast Coverage

Posted on by FiveRingTV

Men’s Sports Could Receive More Total Airtime For The First Time Since Sochi

(February 15, 2026) – Men’s sports are receiving more airtime than women’s sports on NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast of the Milan Cortina Winter Games, say James R. Angelini (University of Delaware) and Paul J. MacArthur (Utica University), co-authors of the book Olympic Television: Broadcasting the Biggest Show on Earth.

Through the first 10 nights, men’s sports received 2 hours, 33 minutes and 53 seconds more NBC primetime broadcast coverage than women’s sports. Men’s sports received 49.4% of the sports coverage while women’s sports received 33.5% of the coverage; the remainder featured mixed-sex events (17.1%). When mixed sex events are excluded, men’s sports have received 59.53% of the coverage, compared to 40.47% for women’s sports. Men’s sports received more airtime than women’s sports in 6 of the first 10 nights.

If the current trend continues, this would mark the first time that men’s sports have received more coverage than women’s sports on NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast since the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Women’s sports received more coverage than men’s sports in six of the past seven NBC Olympic primetime broadcasts.

The last time men’s sports led at the 10-day mark was during the 2018 PyeongChang Games, when men’s sports had more coverage than women’s sports by almost an identical margin. That gap was obliterated over the next 8 nights as women’s sports clocked more airtime than men’s sports by the end of the PyeongChang Games.

The 2022 Beijing Winter Games marked the largest coverage gap favoring women’s sports detected on an American primetime Olympic broadcast dating back to 1994 when the studies began. Unlike Milan Cortina and PyeongChang, women’s sports led men’s sports at the 10-day mark in Beijing.

“NBC typically favors women’s sports on its primetime Winter Olympic broadcast during the last 8 nights,” says MacArthur. “This is usually driven, in part, by the timing of the women’s figure skating competition, which traditionally receives multiple hours of coverage on NBC. Whether we will see as dramatic a reversal like we did in PyeongChang remains to be seen.”

The current distribution of airtime does not reflect the American medal count. During the first 10 days, Team USA women won 9 medals, compared to 5 medals for Team USA men and 3 medals for the U.S. in the mixed sex events. NBC’s primetime broadcast, however, is not driven solely by the American medal count as compelling stories in popular sports (e.g., Ilia Malinin) also play a factor in NBC’s programming decisions.

“These Games are edited to fit NBC narratives as all of the primetime sports are prerecorded,” says Angelini. “In Beijing, while there was an ample amount of prerecorded events, the time difference between the U.S. and Beijing allowed for some marquee events, such as figure skating, to air live in the U.S. The unpredictable nature of live events impacted NBC’s coverage.”

A table, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, is located here.

The authors will continue to track the amount of coverage men’s and women’s sports receive on NBC’s primetime broadcast of the 2024 Milan Cortina Olympic Game with regular updates posted on FiveRingTV.com and on the @FiveRingTV X feed and on the @FiveRingTV Bluesky Feed.

In addition to regular updates, the authors will issue a post-Olympic report, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, after the Milan Cortina Games conclude.

Contact Information

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Method: The percentage of primetime devoted to men’s, women’s and mixed sex sports is calculated by a single researcher, utilizing a stopwatch and DVR or DVD time codes, measuring (to the millisecond) the total amount of time devoted to each event. Any time spent at the actual athletic site, on a profile about an athlete, promos about a specific athlete or sport, and host commentary about a specific sport or athlete is recorded. Split screens combining commercials and live coverage are included in the calculations, but commercial breaks are not included. The NBC broadcast network East Coast feed is used for the calculations. Olympic coverage on cable networks and live streaming are not included. Network overruns beyond 11:00pm up to the break for local news are included within the calculations.

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Olympic Television: Broadcasting the Biggest Show on Earth contains a detailed 20-year examination of how male and female athletes have been covered within primetime Olympic broadcasts. The book also has analyses of how race/ethnicity and nationality impact Olympic coverage, interviews with NBC personnel about the content and production of Olympic broadcasts, and an overview of Olympic television history. Published by Routledge, it is available in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats at Amazon.com, the Routledge website, and other outlets.