How to Watch the Olympics Online

The Opening Ceremony for the 2014 Winter Games will be on Friday, February 7. All eyes will be on Russia as athletes from around the world compete in these historic events. If you want to tune in, you're in luck - it's not hard to watch the events online, though you may also need to work around time differences and work schedules. Just follow the instructions for your country from the outlined methods and you'll be watching the Olympics online in no time!

Edit Steps

Edit Method 1: Watching in the US

Have cable service which includes NBC. If you are one of the many people that have decided to "cut the cord" when it comes to cable, you won't be able to access NBC's coverage. Follow our instructions in the "Without Cable Service" section for an explanation of your options.

Go to NBC's Olympic website. Go to NBC's Olympic coverage site to start the process of watching their online material. All NBC streams will require the Microsoft Silverlight plugin. Check your system beforehand, so that you don't sit down in front of your laptop with a bag of chips and a beer, only to be disappointed.

Register with Live Extra. You'll need to register your cable subscription with NBC's Live Extra in order to be able to watch. Provide the information to your cable subscription which includes NBC channels in order to get access to NBC's Olympic coverage.

Watch events. NBC will provide online streaming for all events this year, EXCEPT the opening games. If you want to watch the opening games live, you'll need to use an alternative method (such as following the cable-less method or just watch it on television).

Get it on your big screen. If you have the right kind of TV (one with HDMI inputs) and the right kind of computer (outputs for visual and audio, preferably an HDMI output), then you can connect your computer to your television and watch the Olympic coverage on your big screen. Follow general instructions here and get Mac instructions here.

Get extra NBC coverage. You can get even more NBC coverage, through social media like Twitter and Instagram (handle for both is NBCOlympics). You can also get NBC's Live Extra App, which will give you Olympic-level Olympic coverage on your mobile device.

Edit Method 2: Watching Outside the US

Watch in the UK. Watch the Olympics via the BBC, either through livestreams or the iplayer.
- You must be in the UK to watch this BBC stream. If you're not in the UK and you'd still like to watch it, follow our cable-free instructions in the following section.

Watch in Australia. Watch NINE Network's coverage of the games. Go to NINE for Australian coverage.
- Click the Video tab at the top.
- Download Microsoft Silverlight if you don't already have it. Silverlight is required to watch video via NINE Network.

Watch in Canada. You can watch in English here or in French here.
- Click Watch Now in the upper-left corner.
- Download Microsoft Silverlight, if you haven't already. Silverlight is required to watch coverage via CTV.

Watch in Europe. Eurovision will be providing free game coverage for anyone living in the EBU.

Edit Method 3: Watching Without Cable Service

Complain to the network. The first thing you should do is send a complaint to NBC, explaining that you would happily watch commercials on their streaming site or pay a small fee in order to watch. NBC will never learn if people don't speak up.

Find a coverage provider. If you lack a cable service which will provide you appropriate access to watch Olympic events, the first step will be finding a country with official coverage that also has laxer viewing requirements. The BBC iplayer is a good option. These websites often require that you live in that country in order to watch.

Get a VPN or browser extension. A VPN, or virtual private network, is a perfectly legal piece of software which masks the origin of your internet traffic (making it look like you do live in Europe). You can get a full VPN (like HideMyAss or TunnelBear), which will also give you greater identity theft protection as you browse the internet normally, or you can get a basic Chrome extension for free (like Hola! or MediaHint) which should do the same thing as a full VPN.

Watch the coverage. Follow the instructions for one of the international sites, with your VPN set for that country, in order to watch Olympic coverage.

Be wary of live tv streaming sites. There are a number of websites that will stream live tv for free, but many of these can be infected with viruses and other malware. It is best to use a trusted VPN service with a reliable streaming provider (like the BBC or Eurovision).

Edit Method 4: Watching Other Material

Watch replays on NBC's YouTube feed. Both the IOC and NBC are offering video highlights of the games on YouTube. In the case of the IOC YouTube channel, they are also offering videos of historic moments in Olympic history.

Follow the Olympics on social networks. Neither Facebook nor Twitter will be offering live feeds, but both will be constantly updated by NBC, fans, and every news source in the world.
- Facebook offers the NBC Olympics page, including exclusive content, fan commentary, and more.
- Follow NBCOlympics on Twitter to keep up with events, moment by moment.

Get an app. Apps can be installed on your iPhone, Android, or Blackberry, and include in-depth information and guides for the games. Find an offical app from the IOC, NBC or other reputable source.

Download the Official Results app. The Results app will give you instant access to Olympic scores, as well as information for all the athletes participating in the games.

Access the IOC archive. To view the highlights of previous Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee has an "archive" of previous Olympic Games from which videos of highlights can be accessed.
- Go to the Olympic Games section of the IOC website at: http://ift.tt/1g0osZI .
- Click on the Olympic Games that you wish to view in the "Past Olympics" section of the page.
- Locate the "Videos" section.
- Choose the video you wish to view.