The Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony was the most-watched Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony in Canada since Sochi 2014.
Video views of the Opening Ceremony on CBC’s digital platforms increased by 130 per cent compared to Beijing 2022.
The live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony was the most-watched program in Canada on Friday with an average minute audience of 2.5 million viewers - an increase of 221 per cent over Beijing 2022 (788,000).
Canadians turned out in large numbers across all CBC/Radio-Canada platforms for the kickoff of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Sixteen million viewers in Canada tuned in to CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Opening Ceremony on CBC and Radio-Canada networks and broadcast partners TSN, Sportsnet and RDS, with an additional 1.1 million streams on CBC/Radio-Canada’s digital platforms, including CBC Gem, ICI TOU.TV, the CBC News app (iOS / Android) and the Radio-Canada Info app (iOS / Android), and the CBC and Radio-Canada websites dedicated to the Olympic Winter Games.
CBC Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony Audience Highlights
CBC’s Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony coverage was hosted by CBC News Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault and Olympics reporter Devin Heroux who guided audiences through the unique and widespread Opening Ceremony.
- The Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony was the most-watched Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony in Canada since Sochi 2014.
- There were 814,000 video views of the Opening Ceremony on CBC’s digital platforms including CBC Gem, cbc.ca/milanocortina2026 and the CBC News app, an increase of 130 per cent compared to Beijing 2022 (354,000).
- CBC’s live afternoon broadcast of the Opening Ceremony from 2:00 p.m. to 5:38 p.m. ET and primetime encore from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET were the 1st and 2nd most-watched programs in Canada on Friday, February 6 among 2+ and 25-54 audiences.
- CBC and partners' live broadcast of the Opening Ceremony was the most-watched program in Canada on Friday with an average minute audience of 2.5 million viewers, an increase of 221 per cent over the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony (788,000).
- Viewership peaked at 2:56 p.m. ET when 3.1 million viewers watched Team Canada enter San Siro Stadium as part of the Parade of Athletes.
- CBC and partners’ encore primetime broadcast was the second most-watched program in Canada on Friday with an average minute audience of 1.6 million viewers (2+).
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Winter Games, the Opening Ceremony took place across two cities, with the main ceremony in the iconic Milano San Siro Olympic Stadium as well as in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Opening Ceremony paid tribute to Italian history, art and culture and centred around the theme of "Armonia" ("Harmony"). Highlights in San Siro Stadium included pop music icon Mariah Carey performing Domenico Modugno’s “Volare” before singing her own hit, “Nothing is Impossible,” and iconic Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli delivering a chilling performance of “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot as the Olympic flame made its way to the Milano cauldron. The Parade of Athletes was unlike anything ever seen in Olympic history, with parades in each of Milano, Cortina, Livignio and Predazzo totalling 2,900 athletes, including 135 Team Canada athletes. The Olympic cauldrons - in both Milano and Cortina - were lit by Italian Olympic skiing legends: gold medallists Deborah Compagnoni and Alberto Tomba in Milano, and Sofia Goggia in Cortina.
CBC/Radio-Canada, Canada's Olympic Network through 2032 and Paralympic network through 2026, is the exclusive Canadian broadcast and streaming home of the Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026, continuing through Sunday, February 22. CBC’s comprehensive coverage of Milano Cortina 2026 will feature live broadcasts from every venue and include every Canadian medal-winning moment, with 22 hours of live television coverage each day and totalling more than 3000 hours of live content across its multiple platforms. CBC’s dedicated Milano Cortina 2026 website (cbc.ca/milanocortina2026) offers full event schedules, results, highlights, athlete profiles, daily updates and more. The CBC News app features an Olympics section to keep fans up-to-date on their mobile devices. Plus, CBC Sports keeps audiences informed and entertained with exclusive digital series available across its social media platforms
TV Data Source: Numeris TV Meter, February 6, 2026, CBC Total, TSN+, Sportsnet National, Ind2+/A25-54, AMA, AvgDlyRch, CumeRch, generated by Instar. Note: Data is based on unconfirmed, overnight audiences.
Digital Data Source: Adobe Analytics, CBC Production, February 6, 2026
Photo Credit: Cameron Spencer, Getty Images Europe
Social Media:
Instagram: @CBCOlympics
Facebook: CBCOlympics
TikTok: @cbcsports
YouTube: CBC Sports
- 30 -
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages: Dëne Sųłıné, Dene Kǝdǝ́, Dene Zhatıé, Eastern Cree, Dinjii Zhuʼ Ginjik, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun and Tłı̨chǫ. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
