Olympic Figure Skating TV Schedule for 2026 Milan Cortina Games

Every four years, the sport of figure skating takes center stage at the Winter Olympics as hundreds of athletes from around the world compete for honor and glory.

The 2026 Milan Cortina Games will prove no different, with skaters flocking to northern Italy to showcase their technical abilities, grace and composure on the ice. The figure skating competition will start on Friday, Feb. 6 and end on Thursday, Feb. 19.

Here’s everything to know about how to watch figure skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

Overview of Olympic Figure Skating

Figure skating, the oldest event at the Winter Olympics, debuted in 1908 and has since grown into one of the most enthralling sports at the Games displaying a blend of graceful elegance, impressive athleticism, technical precision and skill.

There are five figure skating events: men’s and women’s single skating, pair skating, ice dance and a team competition. The ice dance and the team competition are the newer events, which were added to the Games in 1976 and 2014 respectively.

The United States and Russia are historically two of the best countries in Olympic figure skating. While Russia holds the most gold medals of all time, the United States has the highest total medal count with 54 medals (17 gold) as of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. Other countries to watch include Japan, Canada and Austria.

Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
United States	17	16	21	54
Russia	25	15	8	48
Canada	6	11	12	29
Austria	7	9	4	20
Great Britain	5	3	7	15
Japan	3	5	3	11

Olympic Figure Skating Rules & Format

Within the men’s, women’s and pairs competitions, there are two rounds: a short program that has mandatory technical elements (i.e. jumps, spins, steps), and a free program that also has mandatory technical elements but allows for more creative freedom. Skaters will pick the music to their programs themselves.

The pairs competitions include more technical elements (i.e. throws, overhead lifts, death spirals), and the pair must perform a few movements together, with the goal to be as synchronized as possible.

A figure skating performance is based on rhythm, choreography and footwork. Skaters earn points for technical skills, where harder moves are worth more (have a higher base value). Scores for each event are decided by a panel of two technical specialists and a technical controller, who assess the technical elements of a performance. Separately, a panel of nine judges assess the quality of execution and other artistic elements (i.e. interpretation). The sum of the scores determines the winner at the end of the two rounds.

In ice dance competitions, skaters will perform both a rhythm dance and a free dance. Skaters will not get to pick the music genre; instead, the International Skating Union (ISU) chooses the music each year.

In team competitions, there is a qualifying phase and a final phase. Each phase is divided into the traditional two rounds: the short program (called the rhythm dance) and free program (called the free dance), as mentioned above. The qualifying phase takes place before the Opening Ceremony.

Olympic Figure Skating TV Schedule

Here are the key dates to know for figure skating competitions at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games:

Team event: Friday, Feb. 6 to Sunday, Feb. 8
Ice dance: Monday, Feb. 9 and Wednesday, Feb. 11
Men's singles: Tuesday, Feb. 10 and Friday, Feb. 13
Pairs: Sunday, Feb. 15 and Monday, Feb. 16
Women's singles: Tuesday, Feb. 17 and Thursday, Feb. 19

Here's what the live broadcast schedule looks like for all figure skating events, beginning on Feb. 6. All times are EST. All competitions will take place at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.

Bolded events signify medal events.

Friday, Feb. 6

Event	Time	Channel
Team Event (Rhythm)	4:00 a.m. ET	USA Network
Team Event: Pairs (Short)	5:35: a.m. ET	USA Network
Team Event: Women’s (Short)	7:35 a.m. ET	USA Network
Team Event (Rhythm)	12:00 p.m. ET	NBC
Team Event: Pairs (Short)	12:30 p.m. ET	NBC
Team Event: Women’s (Short)	1:00 p.m. ET	NBC

Saturday, Feb. 7

Event	Time	Channel
Team Event: Men’s (Short)	1:45 p.m. ET	NBC
Team Event (Free)	4:00 p.m. ET	NBC

Sunday, Feb. 8

Event	Time	Channel
Team Event (Free)	2:00 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network
Team Event: Pairs (Free)	1:30 p.m. ET	USA Network
Team Event: Women’s (Free)	2:45 p.m. ET	USA Network
Team Event: Men’s (Free)	3:55 p.m. ET	USA Network

Monday, Feb. 9

Event	Time	Channel
Team Event: Pairs, Women’s, Men’s (Free)	1:30 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network
Ice Dance (Rhythm): Warm-Up	11:20 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Ice Dance (Rhythm): Part 1	1:20 a.m. ET	USA Network
Ice Dance (Rhythm): Part 2	2:40 a.m. ET	NBC

Tuesday, Feb. 10

Event	Time	Channel
Ice Dance (Rhythm)	2:00 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network
Men’s Singles (Short): Warm-Up	11:05 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Men’s Singles (Short): Part 1	12:30 p.m. ET	USA Network
Men’s Singles (Short): Part 2	1:45 p.m. ET	NBC

Wednesday, Feb. 11

Event	Time	Channel
Men’s Singles (Short)	2:00 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network
Ice Dance (Free): Warm-Up	11:00 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Ice Dance (Free): Part 1	1:30 p.m. ET	USA Network
Ice Dance (Free): Part 2	2:15 p.m. ET	NBC

Thursday, Feb. 12

Event	Time	Channel
Ice Dance (Free)	1:30 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network

Friday, Feb. 13

Event	Time	Channel
Men’s Singles (Free): Warm-Up	10:45 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Men’s Singles (Free): Part 1	1:00 p.m. ET	USA Network
Men’s Singles (Free): Part 2	3:00 p.m. ET	NBC

Saturday, Feb. 14

Event	Time	Channel
Men’s Singles (Free)	2:00 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network

Sunday, Feb. 15

Event	Time	Channel
Pairs (Short): Warm-Up	11:20 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Pairs (Short): Part 1	1:45 p.m. ET	USA Network
Pairs (Short): Part 2	3:00 p.m. ET	NBC

Monday, Feb. 16

Event	Time	Channel
Pairs (Short)	2:00 p.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network
Pairs (Free): Warm-Up	11:30 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Pairs (Free): Part 1	2:00 p.m. ET	USA Network
Pairs (Free): Part 2	3:55 p.m. ET	NBC

Tuesday, Feb. 17

Event	Time	Channel
Pairs (Free)	2:00 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network
Women’s Singles (Short): Warm-Up	10:20 a.m. ET	Streaming only
Women’s Singles (Short): Part 1	12:45 p.m. ET	USA Network
Women’s Singles (Short): Part 2	2:40 p.m. ET	NBC

Wednesday, Feb. 18

Event	Time	Channel
Women’s Singles (Short)	1:30 a.m. ET (Re-air)	USA Network

Thursday, Feb. 19

Event	Time	Channel
Women’s Singles (Free): Warm-Up	10:30 p.m. ET	Streaming only
Women’s Singles (Free)	1:00 p.m. ET	NBC

How to Watch Olympic Figure Skating With and Without Cable

Cable and Satellite Providers

NBC owns the exclusive broadcast rights for this year's Games, so most of the events will be aired on the network's flagship channel country-wide. Many cable packages also include the USA Network, which will host any overflow programming from NBC.

Those who have cable can also authenticate online using their cable subscription, which allows access to live streams of Olympic events on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, the NBC app or the NBC Sports app. Streams can be viewed in web browsers, phones, tablets or connected TV devices.

Streaming Services

Many Olympic events will also be streamed on Peacock. There is no free trial at this time.

For new subscribers, Peacock with ads offers two packages: monthly and annual. The monthly package costs $7.99 per month, and the annual costs $79.99 per year.