Women’s sports received more airtime than men’s sports during NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Three men’s events had more than one minute of coverage. 

Men’s Snowboarding had more than 27 minutes covering the slopestyle final where Team USA’s Jake Canter won bronze. China’s Su Yiming and Japan’s Taiga Hasegawa won gold and silver respectively. There was also a profile of Team USA’s Red Gerard, who won gold in the PyeongChang Games slopestyle event.

Men’s Cross Country Skiing had more than 14 and a half minutes covering the team sprint, where Team USA’s Ben Ogden and Gus Schumacher won silver, the first time an American men’s team has won a medal in this event. Norway’s Einar Hedegart and Johannes Hosflot Klaebo won gold, while Italy’s Elia Barp and Federico Pellegrino won bronze.

Men’s Ice Hockey had just under 5 minutes covering the highlights from all four of the tournament quarterfinal games

Men’s Short Track Speed Skating had just under 4 minutes covering the 500 meter finals. 

Five women’s event received more than one minute of airtime.

Women’s Alpine Skiing had 1 hour and 1 second covering the slalom event, including an interview with Team USA’s gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin.

Women’s Freestyle Skiing had just under 8 minutes covering the aerials final.

Women’s Short Track Speed Skating had more than 5 and a half minutes covering the 3000 meter relay final.

Women’s Ice Hockey had more than 2 minutes with promos for the gold medal match between USA and Canada.

Women’s Figure Skating had exactly 2 minutes covering Snoop Dogg and Martha Stewart watching the short program competition.

No mixed events had more than one minute of coverage. 

Overall, coverage of men’s events accounted for 39.60% of NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast. Women’s events received 60.36% of the coverage. Mixed sex events (e.g., ice dancing) received 0.04% of NBC’s coverage.

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When mixed sex events are excluded, men’s sports received 39.62% of NBC’s coverage compared to 60.38% for women’s sports.

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Regular updates about NBC’s primetime coverage of men’s and women’s sports will be posted throughout the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games on FiveRingTV.com. Updates are also be posted on the @FiveRingTV X feed and the @FiveRingTV Bluesky feed. A mid-Olympic report, with complete sport-by-sport coverage breakdowns, will also be issued.

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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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