The Olympics are upon us and you probably need a way in. If you’re like most folks, you see this approaching Riohazard of humanist glory and don’t know how to access it.
Let’s get you set up in time for Friday night’s opening ceremony.
NBC
For Americans with a cable or satellite subscription, NBC’s 4,500 hours of programming will be the go-to. Streams will feature every competition (whether or not they air on TV) and multi-angle streams will likewise be available for select sports like tennis and track. (If you forgot, say, your Time Warner password, NBC is giving viewers a 30-minute free streaming period before its platform will ask for a login.)
Streams are on NBCOlympics.com, plus the NBC Olympics app, which is available for iOS, Android, Windows, Roku, and Amazon.
Telemundo
The Spanish-language channel (owned by NBC) is offering 720 hours of Olympics content in August. Cable and satellite subscribers can help themselves to the website. Ditto the Telemundo Deportes app.
Sling TV
For the cord-cutting sector, Sling TV is a top priority. However, you’ll want to pop for the $25 a month “Sling Blue” tier to access NBC, Bravo, NBC Sports Network, and USA. The “Sports Extra” tier—$5 a month more—offers an additional 130 hours of Olympics. You can start a free, seven-day trial and feel it out. It’s like that time Urkel got a big screen just to watch the Super Bowl and return it the next day, only there is no concern that you’ll trip and break it.
PlayStation Vue
Have one of these bad boys lying around? Sony’s online TV option has PlayStation 3 or 4 owners covered. Vue‘s $29.99 per month entry subscription tier includes the NBC family of networks—it covers almost all of your Rio needs. Vue is also available on Fire TV, Roku, Chromecast, iOS, and Android.
Tablo
If you have a TV, of course, you can watch NBC and Telemundo for free without cable or satellite. Tablo’s DVR let’s you record broadcast TV and stream it to your connected device. Loopholes!
Of course Tablo retails for $200.
Correction: Vue’s entry tier is $29.99 per month.