Since the creation of social media and digital news, watching the Olympics has become a very different experience. With the Olympic Games taking place in a different timezone, but your local TV programming only airing it during primetime hours, it’s nearly impossible not to see spoilers as fans present at the Olympic Games share posts immediately in real time. There is also only so much time devoted to each sport, so it is likely you only end up seeing a small fraction of the actual athletes competing. We have done some research for you on how to live stream the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Canada and the US, so that you can cheer for your country and your favourite athletes in real time.
Canada
cbc.ca/olympics: Canadians will have access to free live streaming of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on CBC’s website. There will be up to 23 channels streaming all events, so you shouldn’t miss out on any single Canadian athletic performance or medal moment. Those with subscriptions to Telus, Shaw, Rogers or Videotron will also be able to view CBC’s live commentated feeds.
CBC Rio 2016 App: Watch live coverage wherever you are, along with on-demand highlights, results and stories. Apparently, this must be used in conjunction with the CBC Sports App.
CBC Olympic Games Virtual Reality App: If you have the Samsung VR gear or cardboard VR viewer, you can get closer to feeling like you are at the Olympic Games than ever before. Some events are available to be watched live and in 360 degrees. Highlights from Rio 2016 will be posted every day.
USA
NBColympics.com: NBC will be live streaming all of the competitions, even those that don’t normally make it to TV. In order to take advantage of this offer though, you must obtain a username and password from your pay TV account; meaning your cable TV provider. NBC is promising that for the first time in history you will get full coverage, and not partial or delayed coverage! The Opening Ceremonies are the only event that will not be streamed, because the network wants you to watch it on primetime only.
NBC Olympics App (NBC Sports): The App has the same features as the website with the added option of using it as a streaming companion by receiving data simultaneously. The App is free, but you require a cable subscription username and password just as you do for the website. As another historical first, this App will include VR experiences of events from the day, following their broadcast. This feature is only available to those who have Samsung VR gear.
Comcast X1 Platform: For Comcast subscribers, your cable box will combine live television, online streaming and on-demand content, athlete profiles, and up-to-the-minute stats.
You can, of course, turn to your favourite social media platforms for different angles of stories coming from participants and fans once you are sure the results will not be spoiled for you. The main hashtag for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games is #Rio2016. Facebook, in partnership with NBC, will be showing exclusive content, however the Facebook Live feature will only be broadcasting live interviews with athletes and not any live events. Snapchat also has a partnership and will have a featured channel within its Stories. To make sure you have absolute complete access to everything you need to know, you might want to consider also downloading the Rio 2016 Mobile App, which is the official App of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Enjoy the next couple weeks of the most exciting sports and we hope your favourite athletes meet their goals!
great information about Olympics streaming..
Thanks for sharing I’m a little late though, is this info also correct for the Paralympic games? Many thanks!
Hi Tyler!
The Apps and I believe the websites will be streaming some of the events for Paralympics, but not with as much coverage as the Olympics. There are other avenues for watching and streaming unique to the Paralympics. I wrote a separate post dedicated just to that, which you can access on the home page of our website as the lead story at the moment.
And of course, via the link attached to my reply! Thanks for your interest!