Sixteen million viewers in Canada tuned in to CBC/Radio-Canada’s coverage of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony on CBC and Radio-Canada networks and broadcast partners TSN, Sportsnet and RDS, according to a Saturday press release from CBC citing Numeris data.
That’s in addition to 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, said CBC, referencing Adobe Analytics as its digital data source. On the CBC digital platforms alone (CBC Gem, CBC News app, CBC’s dedicated Olympic Winter Games website), there were 814,000 video views of the opening ceremony, an increase of 130 per cent compared to Beijing 2022, CBC said.
Overall, across all networks and platforms, the Milano Cortina 2026 opening ceremony was the most-watched Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony in Canada since Sochi 2014, according to CBC’s press release.
CBC’s live afternoon broadcast of the opening ceremony from 2 p.m. to 5:38 p.m. ET and primetime encore from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET were the first and second most-watched programs in Canada on Friday, Feb. 6 among 2+ and 25-54 audiences, CBC’s press release said.
In addition, CBC and its 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, CBC said.
Viewership peaked at 2:56 p.m. ET when 3.1 million viewers watched Team Canada enter the iconic Milano San Siro Stadium as part of the Parade of Athletes.
CBC and its partners’ encore primetime broadcast was the second most-watched program in Canada on Friday with an average minute audience of 1.6 million viewers, according to CBC.
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. 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 Milano’s San Siro Stadium as well as in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The Parade of Athletes featured parades in each of Milano, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo, totalling 2,900 athletes, including 135 Team Canada athletes.
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 performing “Nessun Dorma” from Puccini’s Turandot as the Olympic flame made its way to the Milano cauldron. 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.
Photo via CBC
