How do you watch the Olympics if you don’t have cable?

To start, there’s regular old NBC. It is broadcasting the big events — including figure skating, Alpine skiing, snowboarding, short track and speed skating — as well as a live prime-time show each night during the Games. NBC is still available free over an antenna your grandfather probably called “rabbit ears.” Yes, those are still made, and now they’re digital and HD. You can get one at most electronics stores for as little as $20. Then there’s Peacock, the newish streaming app from NBC’s corporate parent, Comcast — which brings us to our next question.

What Olympic events can I watch free on Peacock — and what if I subscribe?

Unlike the Summer Olympics, a paid subscription to Peacock now gets you access to live streams of all of NBCUniversal’s coverage. That makes sense, since NBC owns the service, and it should theoretically be like Netflix for the Olympics. Customers paying for the $4.99-a-month Peacock Premium can watch live events and on-demand replays. Replays are available “as soon as possible” after events finish, Peacock said. People using the service’s free tier appear to have fewer live-streamed options than they did this summer — most free content is made up of highlight clips and Peacock’s original content (think documentaries).

What can you see if you have a cable subscription?

NBC is filling its sister channels — including USA Network and CNBC — with hundreds of hours of coverage. Hope you have some free time! Some cable providers, such as Comcast, offer fancy cable-box interfaces to help you get to what you want to watch live and on-demand. Comcast’s entertainment customers in the United States also get access to Peacock Premium for no additional cost. But wait, there’s more! With a log-in for your cable provider, you can access the NBCOlympics.com website or the NBC Sports app to go super deep on live and on-demand coverage of your favorite sports, about 2,100 hours all told.

Can you watch the Olympics in 4K?

Yes. Just like this past summer’s Games, NBC is broadcasting winter events — including figure skating, Alpine skiing, snowboarding and freestyle skiing — in ultra high-definition known as 4K: four times the resolution of regular old HD. If figure skater Nathan Chen nails a quad jump or 2018 snowboarding gold medalist Chloe Kim debuts any jaw-dropping new tricks, you’ll be able to see every last detail. But to watch in 4K, you will need not only an Ultra HD TV but also a special feed. That varies by cable company and region — see a full list here — but Comcast subscribers in most markets have access to NBC’s evening program in 4K. YouTube TV is also streaming some events in 4K for subscribers who pay more.

Is there an inexpensive way to get the cable-only coverage?

Getting “cable” isn’t quite as onerous as it used to be. You can subscribe totally over the Internet (and quit at any time) with cord-cutter services. One of them, SlingTV, is $35 per month. Another, Hulu with Live TV, is $69.99 a month.

Can I borrow a log-in to stream the Olympic content that is available to cable subscribers?

Probably. The terms of service for many cable services say their streaming log-ins are for “households.” That’s a pretty squishy term. But many will cut you off after a few concurrent streams. Peacock, for example, says it allows only three at the same time. So keep it in the family.

Can I just catch up on the Olympics on YouTube?

That depends how much you want to see. NBC Sports selects and posts clips and highlights to its YouTube channel after the events themselves, and the “vast majority” are posted immediately, it said.

Can I watch Olympic highlights on social media?

A few social networks have official partnerships with NBC to offer tantalizing morsels. Snapchat, for instance, has partnered with NBC on three Olympics-related shows, including a highlights section with the best moments from the Winter Games. Look for the NBC Olympics accounts on Twitter, TikTok and Instagram for clips and behind-the-scenes glimpses. (Just note that if you’re in Beijing or any other part of mainland China, much of the content posted on U.S. social media is either blocked or censored.) As far as your favorite independent creators, you may see some screen-recorded content from the Olympic competitions, but it’s against the rules. The IOC said during the Summer Games that it was using “advanced technologies” to find and take down any unauthorized content — that is, clips that didn’t get the sign-off from NBC. Homemade clips still circulate , though, so you could catch a blockbuster moment if you’re scrolling at the right time.

Are Olympic athletes sharing their own video from Beijing events?

IOC guidelines encourage them to “share their experiences” from Beijing on social media but forbid them to include any homemade footage of sporting events. In other words, you can watch U.S. Alpine skiing gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin post updates to her Instagram stories , but she won’t be sharing any competition content — and neither will other athletes, if they follow the rules. The best place for up-close-and-personal content from Olympians may be TikTok, where they’ve been showing fans portraits of life in the Olympic Village, like <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@adaripp/video/7061618908356234543?_d=secCgYIASAHKAESPgo8XpmXgYOsgjKdsJJnPo9H3K8R5cuNrg7ufcADotahO6IZ5k1HQ2eW2lOuX1Odj7lVqbuvZWlgtZPC7vi9GgA%3D&checksum=840634566b579b01b306d1c1c6d4ff30814f3f54f1e06e1cc17220adc0eaa47b&language=en&preview_pb=0&sec_user_id=MS4wLjABAAAAY6AfhKhJ4HODwQMEAp6M7UlhJLI5Iuq-qtC473bcujUIm0EBv7IRZzRBop_Ys9_s&share_app_id=1233&share_item_id=7061618908356234543&share_link_id=C29F090E-1A26-4068-9B31-3314B1136A70&source=h5_m&timestamp=1644255613&tt_from=copy&u_code=dghi0775f5ld75&user_id=6920050712021844997&utm_campaign=client_share&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=copy&_r=1">this play by play from former U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon.

Can I post my own clips on social media?

If you’re sharing or retweeting from NBC or one of its partners, yes. If you’re screen capturing or holding your phone up to a TV, probably not. Social media companies are supposed to keep unauthorized Olympic content off their feeds — although they don’t catch everything.

Can I watch local coverage from other countries?

The IOC sells broadcast rights to specific countries for boatloads of money, and it has an online monitoring program to stop feeds from spilling into other regions. But policing the Internet is hard. In the past, NBC’s decision to tape-delay certain events has driven some angry fans to stream the coverage from other countries instead. Some fans also think watching how others broadcast the Games is a delight — what’s more in the Olympic spirit than taking in another country’s perspective? If you want to try this, you could try using a virtual private network such as ExpressVPN. It changes your Internet address to make you look like you’re a local. (For example, Britain’s coverage streams via the BBC iPlayer .)

Can I watch the Olympics on Roku?

You can watch on Roku if you have an account with Peacock, DIRECTV STREAM, FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV or YouTube TV.

Are there ways to watch with others over the Internet?

Unfortunately, Peacock does not have watch-party functions. But there’s nothing stopping you and your bestie from both watching live events in different places.

Tech in Your Life

How to watch the Winter Olympics online on a budget

The Winter Olympics are here, and every live event is (finally) on Peacock

By Tatum Hunter

and

Geoffrey A. Fowler

February 8, 2022 at 8:18 a.m. EST

The 2022 Winter Olympics are here, and finding coverage online has gotten easier since the Summer Games in Tokyo last year.

For instance, the Winter Games in Beijing mark the first time NBC, which owns broadcast rights to the Olympics, is making all of its live coverage available to people who pay for its streaming service, Peacock. That means you won’t find yourself wondering why you can’t find NBC content on an NBC-owned streaming platform. And at $4.99 a month, it’s a small price to pay for a few weeks of Olympics access.

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But at a time when streaming services, social media sites and legacy networks are vying for eyeballs, finding the Olympic content you want when you want it still isn’t a no-brainer. (That is, if you want to watch the games at all. Just 16 million people tuned in for the Opening Ceremonies, NBC said — compared with the 28.3 million it reported during the 2018 Winter Games — as covid precautions keep stadiums quiet and alleged human rights abuses in China draw criticism from the international community. China has denied any such abuses.)

Peacock only allows three people to share the same account, so borrowing a friend’s login can get tricky. Locast, which used to provide online access to traditional television stations such as NBC, shut down in September. And YouTube can only show what NBC chooses to share.

We studied NBC’s programming plan and the strict rules from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) about what can be put online and where, and answered some of the most burning questions about how to watch the Winter Olympics free or on a budget. If you’ve got questions about TV and streaming in the Internet age, send them to us here.

Beijing Olympics schedule and TV guide, day by day