Milan Cortina Olympics score biggest Winter Games audience since 2014

Zoom in: NBCUniversal announced Monday that the games averaged 23.5 million viewers for live afternoon and U.S. primetime across NBC, Peacock, digital platforms and Versant's CNBC and USA Network.

• That viewership is according to Nielsen's official data through Thursday and preliminary data through Sunday, and digital data from Adobe Analytics.
• All 15 full competition days topped 20 million viewers, NBCUniversal said.
• More than 215 million Americans tuned into NBCUniversal for "Legendary February," a historic month where it broadcast the Olympics, the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game, according to Nielsen data.

The big picture: NBC's broadcast of this year's Winter Olympics benefitted from a favorable time zone, strong storylines and a robust streaming strategy.

• After two consecutive Winter Games in Asia, the European time zone made it easier to watch marquee events live.
• The games had compelling storylines for American audiences, including Alysa Liu winning the first U.S. Olympic women's figure skating gold in 24 years and first-time golds for bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor and skier Alex Ferreira.
• NBCUniversal also leveraged Peacock to complement its linear broadcast and give audiences the opportunity to watch multiple events at once.

What to watch: The dramatic men's hockey gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada likely boosted viewership on Sunday. NBCUniversal said viewership figures will be available on Tuesday.

• NBCU said the women's hockey final between the U.S. and Canada was the most-watched women's hockey game on record, averaging 5.3 million viewers on USA Network and Peacock.
• NBCUniversal aims to carry this momentum into the 2028 Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where the home-field advantage should further strengthen primetime coverage.

Go deeper: Winter Olympians are not "sticking to sports"