Winter Olympics Ratings Soar as Hollywood Sees Shifts in Leadership and Politics

The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina have closed with a bang, attracting nearly double the viewers from the 2022 games. According to Nielsen ratings and Adobe Analytics streaming data, the games averaged 23.5 million viewers across NBCUniversal and Versant platforms from February 6-23, making them the most-watched Winter Games since 2014.

The ratings momentum continued through the final weekend, with the games averaging more than 20 million viewers for all 15 full days of competition. This is a significant improvement from the 2022 Winter Olympics, which averaged 12 million viewers.

NBCUniversal's presentation of the games was a major factor in their success, with the network's coverage spanning across NBC, Peacock, NBCUniversal Digital Platforms, and Versant's CNBC and USA Network. The combined live afternoon Milan Prime window (2-5 p.m. ET) and U.S. primetime (8-11 p.m. ET/PT) time periods helped to attract a large and diverse audience.

In other entertainment news, Matthew Lillard, the actor known for his role in the Scream franchise, has spoken out about the public diss he received from director Quentin Tarantino. In a recent interview, Lillard recalled the experience, saying it "felt like I had died and was in heaven watching everyone send out their RIP tweets." He also expressed gratitude for the support he received from the Hollywood community, calling it "really lovely."

Meanwhile, Jill Basinger, a prominent media and entertainment litigator, has joined Stris & Maher LLP as a partner to lead the firm's Media, Entertainment, and Sports Litigation practice. Basinger brings over a decade of experience from her previous role as a partner at Glaser Weil LLP and will work to leverage the firm's nationwide platform to serve clients across the country.

In politics, President Donald Trump is set to deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term in office on Tuesday, February 24. The address to the joint session of Congress will air live across U.S. broadcast and news networks, with expected topics including the Trump administration's immigration crackdown, the economy, and the buildup of tensions with Iran.

As the news landscape continues to shift, one thing is clear: the 2026 Winter Olympics have set a new standard for viewership, and the entertainment industry is seeing significant changes in leadership and politics. With the State of the Union address on the horizon, it will be interesting to see how these developments continue to unfold in the coming weeks and months.