For the very first time ever, the summer Olympics will be held in South America -- in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to be exact. The opening ceremony will kick off this Friday on August 5th, you might want to make sure that your diary is well spaced out with enough time to catch your favorite sporting events. While there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world, how about free Rio 2016 Olympics viewing in your living room as well as when you are on the move? We will look into the various schedules and start times of the different free live streams that are made available to the masses.
The Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics will happen this Friday, August 5 at 7 pm EDT, although the competition actually kicked off (literally speaking) yesterday already with women's soccer taking the lead.
It is great for those who happen to settle down in the Western Hemisphere, since Rio is a mere one hour ahead of Eastern Standard Time, you should be able to catch the opening ceremony and live events at times which are far more suitable for everyday viewing, as opposed to arriving at the office the next day like a zombie because you had to watch the live broadcasts at ungodly hours.
Those who are fanatical about the Rio 2016 Olympics should be encouraged that host network NBCUniversal has decided to put aside a whopping 356 hours of coverage planned every single day, now how about that? Surely you would be spoilt for choice when it comes to the sporting events that you would like to catch up on. So many channels and events, so little time. Perhaps this is one of the moments where the DVR comes in handy, although you can most definitely relive those historical, career defining moments of the athletes who triumph in the face of adversity via numerous YouTube uploads later on or through delayed telecasts.
NBCUniversal has every intention to broadcast the competition across the range of their different properties, where among them include CNBC, Bravo, MSNBC and USA Network. The live stream schedule can be found here, while those who prefer to check things out in a mobile manner can always take the Twitter route.
You can also catch up on the Rio 2016 Olympics by watching it online as long as you have a verified cable subscription. With that, NBC users are able to live stream the 2016 coverage of the Rio Olympics while they are on the move, just make sure that you are within a decent connection or range of a fast WiFi network in order to obtain the best experience. According to NBC, their sports app, NBC Sports, is up to the task of live streaming a whopping 4,500 hours of Olympic coverage.
If you happen to live across the pond, then folks over in the UK will be able to catch it live on BBC One. Coverage of the Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony on BBC One will start at 11.40pm BST.
You won't find the Rio 2016 Olympics on Sky, BT Sport or ITV in the UK though. If you have a TV Licence, then all the major Olympic events in addition to its highlights programmes can be viewed for free on BBC One and BBC Four. Those who prefer the mobile route in the UK can fall back on the BBC iPlayer, where you can then catch up on the Rio 2016 Olympics action on your smartphone or tablet, be it live or after the event. The BBC iPlayer is a free app for Android and iOS platforms, but if you are outside of the UK, a VPN is required.
You might want to give this YouTube channel a go however for the live opening ceremony, although it might not work with the sheer amount of expected traffic. Of course, it would be best to check out the official website for any free live streams of the opening ceremony and events at the end of the day. Godspeed in your quest to watch all of the Rio 2016 Olympics action!
