Warner Bros. Discovery reported record-breaking streaming performance for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, with the company posting triple-digit growth across its HBO Max and Discovery+ platforms compared to the Beijing 2022 Games.
The return of the Olympic Winter Games to Europe, combined with what the company described as a highly innovative streaming experience, drove significant growth in viewership and engagement across WBD’s services.
Total hours viewed on its streaming services grew 103% versus Beijing 2022, with three times as many subscribers (234% growth) tuning in via HBO Max and Discovery+. The milestone came quickly – total subscribers streaming Milano-Cortina content surpassed the entirety of Beijing 2022’s streaming audience within just the first three days of full competition (Feb. 6-8).
Social video views on Eurosport’s European accounts and TNT Sports’ U.K. and Ireland accounts exceeded 4 billion, representing a 580% jump versus Beijing 2022.
“The success we witnessed in the opening days has translated into an outstanding Olympic Winter Games for Warner Bros. Discovery with substantial streaming viewership and engagement growth in addition to highly robust linear audiences,” said Andrew Georgiou, president and managing director of WBD Sports Europe.
A feature of this cycle was Olympics Multiview, a new offering that allowed streaming subscribers to watch up to four events simultaneously on a single screen with their choice of audio commentary. Roughly a third of users – 32% – made use of the feature. Viewers could also set personalized watch lists, receive gold medal alerts, track live action via timeline markers, and select from up to 21 commentary languages.
The platforms carried all 246 live sessions across the 19-day competition window, which peaked at 11 concurrent events and featured 116 medal contests with 2,900 athletes competing. Triple-digit streaming growth was recorded individually in France, Germany and Italy on HBO Max, as well as in the U.K. on Discovery+.
“Watching the Olympic Games on HBO Max and Discovery+ clearly resonated with audiences in the U.K. and Europe with three times as many people choosing to stream the Games with us compared to Beijing 2022,” Georgiou said. “Viewers being able to curate their own Olympics, selecting from all 116 live events and using innovative features such as our one-screen Multiview, drove significant increases in time spent by fans watching on our streaming services.”
Linear performance also held strong, with WBD’s Eurosport (Europe) and TNT Sports (U.K. and Ireland) channels posting a 3% increase in total viewers versus Beijing 2022 – a reversal of the broader decline in linear TV consumption seen over the same period. Total linear hours viewed climbed 51% versus the prior Winter Games. Country-level linear gains on Eurosport included France (+47% hours viewed), Germany (+50%) and Poland (+32%), while TNT Sports in the U.K. and Ireland climbed 60% in hours viewed.
Georgiou added: “This Olympics has set an incredibly strong foundation as we look to Los Angeles 2028 and the Olympic Winter Games returning to Europe again for French Alps 2030.”