The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics kicked off with an opening ceremony on Friday that averaged 21.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings and digital data from Adobe Analytics.

The performance in Milan looked squarely at the past, both in substance and in style.

Those are a lot of boos for him,’ a commentator said as the audience in Milan reacted to the U.S. vice president’s presence on Friday.

Fresh off his appearance at the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, Vice President JD Vance got cozy with YouTube star and influencer Jake Paul at another event with decidedly less booing. The two watched the U.S. women's national hockey team defeat Finland in a preliminary matchup in Milan.

The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympic Games kicked off to a solid ratings start with its opening ceremony reaching seeing a 34% uptick from the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony, which kicked off at 11 a.

"I was so thrilled to hear that Italy was taking on this Olympics, just because I had such an incredible time in (in 2006)," said White during the broadcast

Milan Cortina's painfully long, inevitably uneven event was, at its best, a celebration of humanity

The 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games officially began on Friday. Five-time Olympic medalist John Naber joins "The Takeout" to discuss.