Men’s sports received more airtime than women’s sports during NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast on Friday, February 20, 2026.

Two men’s events had more than one minute of airtime. 

Men’s Freestyle Skiing had more than 1 hour, 4 and a half minutes covering the aerials finals; the halfpipe final; profiles of the Team USA halfpipe team, Alex Ferreira, and Nick Goepper; and an interview of Alex Ferreria by Mike Tirico after winning gold in the halfpipe. In the halfpipe, Estonia’s Henry Sildaru won silver and Canada’s Brendan Mackay won bronze, while Team USA’s Nick Goepper came in 4th place.  

Men’s Ice Hockey had just over 5 minutes of airtime with highlights of the Team USA and Team Canada semifinal victories setting up the gold medal game. 

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

Women’s Speed Skating had more than 19 and a half minutes covering the 1500 meter event.

Women’s Bobsled had more than 18 and a half minutes covering the first two rounds of the two-woman event.

Women’s Short Track Speed Skating had more than 1 and a half minutes covering Corrine Stoddard of Team USA winning bronze in the 1500 meter final. South Korea’s Kim Gil-li and Coi Min-jeong won gold and silver, respectively.  

No mixed events had more than one minute of coverage. 

Overall, coverage of men’s events accounted for 62.58% of NBC’s primetime Olympic broadcast. Women’s events received 37.11% of the coverage. Mixed sex events (e.g., ice dancing) received 0.31% of NBC’s coverage.

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When mixed sex events are excluded, men’s sports received 62.77% of NBC’s coverage compared to 37.23% 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 final 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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