NBC is going all out with its coverage of this year’s Olympic Winter Games, broadcasting and streaming more than 2000 hours of content from PyeongChang, South Korea. We’ve compiled this definitive guide to watching the 2018 Winter Olympics without cable so cord-cutting Olympic fans get the games they deserve.
[toc]
NBC Olympic Broadcast Coverage
NBC will air six hundred hours of Olympic coverage, much of it live, across its five broadcast and cable networks. The coverage kicks off a couple of days before the opening ceremony.
- February 7: NBCSN covers mixed doubles curling.
- February 8: NBC airs figure skating and skiing
- February 9: NBC features the opening ceremony and full coverage begins.
The broadcast and cable channels will cover events as they happen in Korea and will air evening recaps. Scattered in between will be the usual mix of interviews, analysis and inspiring profiles guaranteed to bring tears to your eyes.
Which channels to watch
Most of the broadcast coverage will be on NBC and its sports network, NBCSN, but you’ll find live coverage and recaps on CNBC and the USA Network as well. Here is how NBC is dividing up the live broadcasts:
- NBC: alpine skiing, figure skating, snowboarding, freestyle skiing and short track.
- NBCSN: hockey, snowboarding, short track, luge and bobsled.
- USA Network: hockey and curling.
- CNBC: curling.
As you’d expect, the NBC-owned Olympic Channel will have wall-to-wall coverage of the Winter Games.
NBC Apps and Websites
The NBCOlympics website and the NBC Sports app makes it easy to catch Olympics action.
You can stream every one of the 102 medal events, even practice rounds, live and on-demand. That’s more than 1800 hours of winter sports, in all.
Enhanced streaming
This year, you will have access to much more than just the video feed from Korea. Many of the live streams will include biographical information, statistics and more.
In addition to on-demand replays of entire events, NBC will also produce highlight recaps, competitor profiles and interviews.
Who can stream?
As a special bonus for the men and women serving in America’s armed forces overseas, NBC will let anyone on a US military base stream the Olympic coverage.
In the United States, however, you need to have some type of TV provider. Anyone who subscribes to one of cable alternatives listed below will be able to log in and watch.
Olympic-Friendly Streaming Services
A new breed of TV provider is making life difficult for cable companies — and great for cord-cutters. These streaming TV services deliver the same TV channels as live streams over the internet. Even better, they do it for a lower price.
All of the services listed below carry NBC’s networks and qualify for the TV Everywhere program. We ranked them based on their cloud DVR services and overall value.
Before you sign up…
Even though all of these services carry NBC’s networks, they may not carry your local NBC station.
America’s local TV system is broken up among hundreds of local station owners. None of the streaming services have signed deals with every station owner.
Related: What’s the Best Service for Streaming Live Local TV?
That means you may not get the national NBC broadcast if you live in some areas of the country. You will still get all of the other NBC networks and get access to NBC’s apps. But you won’t be able to watch the big Olympic events live on NBC.
Each streaming service has a ZIP code look-up tool that will tell you whether it carries your local NBC station.
fuboTV
fuboTV is the best option for die-hard sports fans. It includes all five NBC networks, plus it has a good cloud DVR and excellent discounts and promotions.
Originally a sports-only streaming service, fuboTV added more lifestyle and entertainment channels last year. Yet it still has more sports channels than any of the other streaming TV services.
The main plan, fubo Premier, ordinarily costs $40 per month. A special promotional deal reduces that to $20 per month for the first two months. Expansion packs let you add fifteen more sports channels or Showtime’s nine movie channels.
The device support from fuboTV isn’t spectacular, but it does cover all of the mainstream set-top and mobile platforms.
- Living room devices: Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku.
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: None.
- Mobile devices and tablets: Android and iOS.
- Game consoles: None.
- Desktop browsers: Chrome is recommended.
Sling TV
Sling TV is the worst option for watching the Olympics cable-free. You have to pay for an expansion pack to get all of NBC’s networks. You also have to pay for the cloud DVR service.
Sling TV has been around longer than any other streaming service. That is part of the reason why, with two million subscribers, it is the most popular streaming service in America. Whether that continues is an open question. Sling TV’s competitors are much less cable-like in their approach.
| Sling Orange Great Value $40.00/ month | 30+ channels ESPN New subscriber special 1 simultaneous stream | Try Sling |
| Sling Blue Great Value$40.00/ month | 40+ channels Fox, NBC, CNN, MSNBC New subscriber special 3 simultaneous streams | Try Sling |
| Sling Orange + Blue Best Value $55.00/ month | 45+ channels ESPN New subscriber special 4* simultaneous streams | Try Sling |
Sling TV offers three subscription plans:
- Orange: 30 channels for $20.
- Blue: 45 channels for $25.
- Orange+Blue: 53 channels for $40.
NBC’s networks are only available with the Blue and Orange+Blue plans. Those base plans do not include, however, CNBC or the Olympic Channel.
You will have to pay another $5 to get CNBC as part of the News Extra expansion pack. You’ll have to shell out an extra $10 for the Sports Extra expansion pack which includes the Olympic Channel.
You also have to pay extra to get Sling TV’s cloud DVR service. The extra $5 monthly fee only gives you fifty hours of recording time.
Sling TV does support a wide range of streaming platforms:
- Living room devices: Air TV Player, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Chromecast and Roku.
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: Certain models from LeEco, LG, Samsung and ZTE.
- Mobile devices and tablets: Amazon Fire tablets, Android and iOS.
- Game consoles: Xbox One.
- Desktop browsers: Chrome.
DirecTV Now
DirecTV Now sits in the middle of the pack for two reasons. First, it does not offer a cloud DVR. There is no way for you to record your favorite Olympic events. Second, the Olympic Channel is not part of DirecTV Now’s entry-level subscription plan.
AT&T owns both DirecTV Now and satellite TV company DirecTV. That gives it an advantage over other services in the sheer number of channels it carries.
Unfortunately, AT&T used aging technology when it launched DirecTV Now in 2016. Browser incompatibility issues, lack of apps and it weak set of features made it less competitive in the streaming TV business. A revamp is underway, but there’s no word on when things like cloud DVR features will roll out to all subscribers.
DirecTV Now offers four plans that let you tailor the service to your budget and TV-watching interests:
- Live a Little: 60+ channels / $35 per month.
- Just Right: 80+ channels / $50 per month.
- Go Big: 100+ channels / $60 per month.
- Gotta Have It: 120+ channels / $70 per month.
The “Live a Little” plan is a great deal, but its Olympic coverage is incomplete. You can watch all of the NBC networks except for the Olympic Channel. Getting that requires stepping up to the “Go Big” plan for almost twice as much per month.
As long as you use one of the mainstream set-top boxes or a smartphone, you’ll be able to stream DirecTV Now without any problems. If you rely on a smart TV or game console, though, you won’t find many apps:
- Living room devices: Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Roku.
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: None.
- Mobile devices and tablets: Android and iOS.
- Game consoles: None.
- Desktop browsers: Chrome and Safari.
Hulu with Live TV
Hulu with Live TV is the best choice for watching the Winter Olympics without cable. It carries all of the NBC networks, has a good cloud DVR and an affordable price. What’s more, TechCrunch discovered that Hulu created a special system so subscribers can track their favorite Winter Olympics sports.
Of course, other services can match those features. What they can’t match is Hulu’s huge catalog of on-demand TV shows. While not Olympic-related, it puts Hulu at the top of the list.
Hulu only launched its streaming TV service in early 2017 and still calls Hulu with Live TV a “beta” project. Yet it’s a fully-featured service with no rough edges. The $40 monthly subscription gets you between 50 and 70 channels depending on where you live. All of NBC’s networks are included.
Hulu’s cloud DVR is included in the subscription. You can record fifty hours of content with it. Add another $15 to your monthly plan and you can expand that to two hundred hours.
Platform support is another of Hulu’s strengths. Just about every streaming device you can think of has a Hulu app:
- Living room devices: Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Nexus Player, Roku and TiVo.
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: Certain models from LG, Samsung, Sony and Vizio.
- Mobile devices and tablets: Amazon Fire Tablets, Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8.
- Game consoles: Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
- Desktop browsers: Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari.
The standard subscription only lets you stream to two devices at a time. A $15 upgrade lets you stream to an unlimited number of devices on your home network and up to three devices on the road. If you get both the device and cloud DVR expansion options, you’ll only have to pay $20 extra per month.
YouTube TV
YouTube TV offers a strong streaming service, especially for watching the Olympics. The subscription includes all five NBC networks and one of the best cloud DVR features in the business. Hulu only edges out YouTube TV by having a huge on-demand library.
With more than fifty channels in its lineup, YouTube TV offers a nice balance between lifestyle, entertainment, news and sports for only $35 per month. That includes all five NBC networks.
YouTube TV lets you record as many programs as you want. Plus, it won’t start deleting the recordings until nine months later.
The one weakness in YouTube TV’s approach to streaming TV is its weak support for non-mobile devices. It promised to have apps for Roku and Apple by the end of 2017, but YouTube didn’t deliver.
- Living room devices: Android TV (but not the Xiaomi Mi Box) and Chromecast.
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: Certain models from LG and Samsung.
- Mobile devices and tablets: Android and iOS.
- Game consoles: Xbox One.
- Desktop browsers: Chrome.
YouTube TV lets you create up to six profiles so members of the household can have their own DVR library and recommendations. However, only three devices can stream from YouTube TV at a time.
PlayStation Vue
Sony’s PlayStation Vue service almost made it to the top of the list thanks to its low cost and support for simultaneous streams. Unfortunately, you can’t get all of NBC’s networks with PlayStation Vue’s entry-level plan.
Don’t be fooled by the name. You don’t need a game console to subscribe to PlayStation Vue. The service has been offering live TV streaming to a wide range of platforms since early 2016.
Vue’s four subscription plans offer a logical path to getting more channels — and spending more money. Still, even the premium Ultra package is much cheaper than cable.
- Access: 45 channels for $40 per month.
- Core: 60 channels for $45 per month.
- Elite: 84 channels for $55 per month.
- Ultra: 87 channels, including HBO and Showtime, for $75 per month.
PlayStation Vue’s cloud DVR has no storage limits. You could record all 600+ hours of NBC’s Olympic broadcast programming without getting cut off. There is a catch, of course. PlayStation Vue will delete the recordings twenty-eight days later.
Another benefit PlayStation Vue offers is the simultaneous streaming to as many as five different devices. Owners of Microsoft’s Xbox don’t get a PlayStation Vue app, but Sony supports a wide range of other devices.
- Living room devices: Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast and Roku.
- Smart TVs and Blu-ray players: None (not even Sony’s).
- Mobile devices and tablets: Android, Amazon Fire Tablets and iOS.
- Game consoles: PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
- Desktop browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Safari and Microsoft Edge.
PlayStation 4 owners get an extra feature not available on other devices. The PS4’s PlayStation Vue app will display up to three live streams at a time.
Chris Casper is a former tech industry product manager who escaped from California for New Mexico. Now he writes about science and tech while searching for the perfect green chile sauce.
You CAN sign in to NBC Olympics with DirecTV NOW account
With Roku and DirecTV NOW you can install NBC Olympics and activate it with DirecTV NOW account and watch it https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/e3f2c11be4f6cab85ff41cd6ac79a08b6de569bac05084933fccabda832be479.jpg
I don’t know how to watch it absolutely free. However You can take subscription on ScreenVariety for a few dollars if you want to watch it.
I don’t know how about you, but I will watch it on ScreenVariety 😀