You’d be forgiven if you thought that the Olympics had just happened—the delayed summer Olympics, postponed from 2020 due to the pandemic, were on a mere six months ago!
But now it’s wintertime in the upper half of the earth’s hemisphere, and the conditions are perfect for athletes to launch themselves off of giant ski slopes. I know there are some ice skating lovers out there, too. Where else can you watch gymnasts on ice in glittery tutus? If you want to be a part of the action, you can stream the Winter Olympics at home.
Here’s how to access the games through apps on your smartphone or TV.
When Are the Winter Olympics?
The Winter Olympics started on Feb. 3 and will run through Feb. 20. They’re taking place in Beijing, China, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. If you were around back then, you might recognize Beijing’s national stadium, the Birds Nest.
Where Can I Stream the Olympics?
NBC has all the exclusive broadcasting rights to the Olympics through 2032. You’ll need to stick with its apps if you’re hoping to stream replays or live footage. There’s a handy schedule you can check to see when you should tune in, and you can even personalize it to filter out the games you don’t care for.
If you don’t pay for live TV, your best bet to watch the Olympics is to fork over $5/month for Peacock Premium. You’ll get access to the opening and closing Ceremonies, NBC’s nightly primetime recap of the games, full replays of all competitions available immediately after they’ve concluded, and even exclusive daily programming.
Peacock will provide access to four Olympics-specific shows with highlights and interviews, including the aptly titled The Olympics Show and Olympic Ice, a must-watch for ice skating fans. You can learn about the other shows over at NBC Sports.
If you don’t want to pay for Peacock, the free tier will offer Olympic news, recaps, and highlights. Just don’t expect to be able to choose which games you watch and when.
Note that you can watch the Peacock app on your smartphone or your set-top box or smart TV of choice, including Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku, and Google TV. You can also use Peacock on consoles like the Xbox One S and PlayStation 4.
What If I Already Pay for Live TV?
If you’ve got traditional pay-TV at your home, all you need to do is tune in to NBC or NBC Sports for live Winter Olympics coverage starting every night at 8 p.m. ET Monday through Saturday and beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Sundays. USA Network will also feature all 15 sports in the Winter Olympics, while CNBC will be showing curling and ice hockey.
If you subscribe through a separate provider, including YouTube TV, Sling TV, and Hulu Live, you can log in through the main NBC Olympics page in your browser to stream coverage. I logged in through my Google account to link up to YouTube TV and watched the opening ceremony with only one commercial break. I even saw Russian President Vladimir Putin sleeping in the stands as the Ukrainian Olympics team made their lap around the stadium. That right there is the real reason you tune in to these live events.
NBC will give you a half-hour pass to its streaming coverage through that link, so you could always use that for part of the opening ceremony if it’s all you’re interested in. Otherwise, if you’re into the Olympics, you might as well budget a bit this month to get your content.
