Four years after Winter Olympics viewer rates plummeted downhill at Beijing 2022, viewership of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Games has soared again—with enhanced video production and new AI innovations to thank. In the US, streaming took gold. NBCU’s digital platforms, including Peacock, recorded 16.7 billion minutes of streamed coverage. That is more than double all prior Winter Olympics combined (6.9 billion minutes). With Peacock streaming more that 850 live events over a 17-day period, it is surprising no major video production or distribution complaints were noted during Milano-Cortina 2026, besides disgruntled fans complaining about incessant commercial breaks during NBC’s coverage of the opening ceremony. That said, US viewership of the Milano-Cortina opening ceremony averaged 21.4 million, marking a 34% increase…