Fresh off a 30-year low in television ratings, the Winter Olympics is seeing much better early returns in 2026, reports The Hollywood Reporter.

The Beijing Games in 2022 had low ratings across the board, including a 15.9 million viewer count for the opening ceremony, marking a three-decade low. Overall, it was the least viewed Winter Olympics NBC had ever broadcast. That performance lowered expectations for Milan and Cortina, Italy, this year.

Instead, the first two days of the Games have resulted in significant gains for NBCUniversal. Preliminary Nielsen ratings, combined with Adobe Analytics streaming data, indicate that viewership has increased by more than 60% compared to four years ago during the same two-day period, when the company averaged 11.4 million viewers in primetime.

The broadcasting networks — NBC, Peacock, CNBC, and USA — reached a peak of 28.5 million viewers on Day 2, marking the largest audience for any day of Winter Olympics coverage since 2014.

The star-studded event on Friday night attracted over 5 million more viewers, totaling 21.4 million, bringing the numbers closer to those of previous Olympics. For example, during the last Winter Olympics in Italy in 2006, NBC drew 22.2 million viewers for the opening ceremony.

Peacock saw an average of 4.1 million viewers on the first Saturday, with over 1.3 billion minutes streamed. That puts the streaming platform on track to surpass 2022’s record of 4.3 billion minutes for the entire Games.

The rebound aligns with NBC’s performance at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris, which also experienced a significant ratings increase. The broadcast plan this year is nearly the same, with Peacock providing live streams for every event, the Gold Zone whip-around show airing daily on the same platform, and NBC, CNBC and USA offering live daytime coverage, with NBC rebroadcasting key moments during primetime.

–Field Level Media

Trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. already appears to be a brilliant long-term move for the Utah Jazz.

Jackson has played in two games with Utah so far, before Wednesday’s matchup against the Sacramento Kings in Salt Lake City. The two-time NBA all-star is averaging 22.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists in 25.0 minutes per game.

His 6-foot-10 frame adds another big presence to the Jazz alongside 7-foot-1 Lauri Markkanen. It makes Utah more difficult to defend at the rim and also helps improve the NBA’s worst defensive team by making them less vulnerable on that end of the court.

“I think having two guys that are that size who can both shoot on the perimeter and put pressure on the rim… teams are going to have some hard choices to make in terms of what the matchups are,” Jazz coach Will Hardy told the Deseret News.

This frontcourt pairing is creating new options for the Jazz on how to attack opposing defenses as Jackson and Markkanen become more familiar and comfortable with each other’s games.

“They’ll show us things that maybe we haven’t thought of as much in terms of ways that their skill sets can play off of each other,” Hardy said. “We also are going to learn more as we continue to go about how those two guys are guarded when they’re in the same space.”

The Jazz have looked like a team poised to take a step from rebuilding mode to contending mode next season when Jackson and Markkanen have been on the court together. They are 1-1 since acquiring Jackson, suffering a 120-117 loss to Orlando on Saturday and then beating Miami 115-111 on Monday.

Jackson saw action in the first three quarters in both games. He played a key role in helping Utah build leads entering the fourth quarter, then sat for the final 12 minutes and watched his younger teammates finish out the game.

The Jazz have drawn criticism on social media for sitting stars like Jackson and Markkanen in the fourth quarters while letting bench players finish games.

Like Utah, Sacramento is focused on future development more than present victories.

The Kings have lost 13 straight games since reeling off a four-game winning streak in mid-January. It is the most consecutive losses for the franchise since moving from Kansas City before the 1985-86 season.

Monday’s 120-94 loss to New Orleans had some bright spots. Maxime Raynaud achieved his eighth double-double of the season after recording 21 points and a career-high 19 rebounds. Russell Westbrook scored 17 points to reach 27,001 career points, placing him 14th on the all-time NBA scoring list. Elvin Hayes is ahead in 13th with 27,313 points.

Still, frustration is mounting for the Kings amid their continued futility. DeMar DeRozan slammed a water bottle to the floor during a third-quarter timeout against the Pelicans, visibly showing his anger at his team’s mediocre play.

“A lot of stuff we do is self-inflicted,” DeRozan told the Sacramento Bee. “Us not being in the right spots, make it a chain reaction, them getting back in transition, getting easy shots, easy buckets, so (the water bottle incident) was just me wanting us to play the right way, win, lose or draw.”

–Field Level Media

AJ Dybantsa exploded for 36 points, Robert Wright III poured in 30 points against his former team and No. 22 BYU went on to a 99-94 victory over Baylor on Tuesday night in Waco, Texas.

The Cougars (18-6, 6-5 Big 12) snapped a four-game losing skid with the victory. Dybantsa, the nation’s leading scorer, finished 14 of 20 from the field and added five rebounds and seven assists. Wright was 12 of 21 from the field and finished with four rebounds and three assists.

Dybantsa and Wright were the first BYU duo to score 30-plus points since Jan. 4, 1984.

The Bears (13-11, 3-9) have lost six of their last eight games as their season-long struggles continue. Tounde Yessoufou was a bright spot with a season-high 37 points, six rebounds and three assists. Cameron Carr had 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Caden Powell added 13 points.

Baylor got off to a fast start, heating up from 3-point range. Carr and Yessoufou knocked in consecutive 3s to give the Bears a 33-21 lead at the 8:32 mark in the first half. Yessoufou’s triple came with a favorable bounce off the front rim.

But things shifted in BYU’s favor the rest of the half. The Cougars closed the gap with an 11-2 run and briefly took a 41-40 lead on a jumper by Wright, but they went to the locker rooms tied 41-41.

Baylor opened the second half with a 7-2 spurt, but BYU quickly responded with its own 15-2 run, taking a 58-50 lead on a jumper by Richie Saunders with 13:54 left.

The Cougars went on to lead by as many as 17 points in the closing minutes. Baylor pulled to within 94-90 on a three-point play by Carr with 25.7 seconds left, but BYU never let it get to within one possession.

Saunders finished with 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds for BYU, which outshot Baylor 55.9% to 51.6% from the field. Isaac Williams had 12 points and seven assists for the Bears.

–Field Level Media