Winter Olympics 2026: TV Coverage, Broadcasters & What’s Changed

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games, officially known as Milano–Cortina 2026, will take place from 6–22 February 2026, with events spread across northern Italy. While the setting promises spectacular scenery — from Alpine ski resorts to historic Italian cities — the biggest talking point for many viewers will be how and where the Games can be watched.

For UK and European audiences, Olympic broadcasting has changed dramatically since previous Games.

A Quick History of the Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics were first held in 1924 in Chamonix, France, as a complement to the Summer Games. Over the decades, they’ve grown from a niche sporting festival into a major global event featuring disciplines such as alpine skiing, biathlon, ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating and snowboarding.

Italy last hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006 (Turin), and Milano–Cortina marks the country’s return as host — this time with a multi-city model designed to reduce costs and reuse existing venues.

Where Are the Games Being Held?

Unlike traditional single-city Olympics, Milano–Cortina 2026 is spread across several regions:

• Milan: Opening ceremony and indoor ice sports

• Cortina d’Ampezzo: Alpine skiing

• Val di Fiemme: Nordic skiing and ski jumping

• Bormio: Alpine speed events

The opening ceremony takes place on Friday 6 February 2026.

The UK TV Deal: BBC and Warner Bros. Discovery

UK broadcasting rights for the Olympics are held by Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) under a Europe-wide agreement running through to 2032. This means WBD controls all live Olympic rights, with coverage delivered primarily via its platforms.

The BBC operates under a sub-licensing arrangement, allowing it to show:

• Selected live events

• Highlights packages

• Daily Olympic programmes

However, unlike past Olympics, the BBC does not offer wall-to-wall live coverage.

The Big Change: Eurosport to Discovery+

One of the biggest shifts for viewers is where the full Olympic experience lives.

• In previous Games, much of the live coverage was accessible via Eurosport, often bundled cheaply with satellite or cable TV packages.

• For Milano–Cortina 2026, comprehensive coverage is concentrated on the Discovery+ app, typically requiring a more expensive subscription tier.

Eurosport-branded channels still exist, but they now act largely as shop windows, with full multi-sport, multi-stream access locked behind Discovery+.

For UK viewers, this makes the Olympics more fragmented and more expensive than during the BBC-led era.

European Broadcasters: How the Rest of Europe Watches

Across continental Europe, a similar structure applies. Warner Bros. Discovery provides extensive live coverage via Discovery+ and Eurosport-branded feeds, while national broadcasters focus on highlights and key events.

Notable European free-to-air partners include:

• RAI (Italy)

• France Télévisions (France)

• ARD / ZDF (Germany)

• RTVE (Spain)

• RTÉ (Ireland)

These broadcasters typically show opening and closing ceremonies, medal events involving national athletes, and daily highlights, while full coverage remains on WBD platforms.

The result is broad availability — but not universal free access.

The Olympics were once the ultimate shared TV experience. Today, they’re increasingly shaped by streaming economics. While Milano–Cortina 2026 will be visually stunning and logistically ambitious, it also underlines a wider shift: major global sporting events are slowly moving behind higher paywalls, even when public broadcasters are still involved.

For viewers, knowing where to watch — and how much it costs — is now as important as knowing who’s competing.

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