2026 Winter Olympics Viewing Guide: How to Watch the Games Live
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan are set to begin this week, starting on Friday, Feb. 6. The Games will feature 17 days of competition with around 2,900 athletes from over 90 nations participating. NBCUniversal will provide extensive coverage of the Winter Games, including live coverage of all 116 medal events, featuring sports like skiing, ice skating, luge, and curling. Viewers without a cable package can still watch the Olympics through various options, such as subscribing to Peacock for $11 per month to stream every event live or using an over-the-air (OTA) antenna to watch for free on NBC. Additionally, the NBC Olympics website offers free access to the opening and closing ceremonies, some medal ceremonies, and highlights. Watching on Peacock Premium for $11 per month provides access to all 116 events live, with features like Live Actions and Discovery Multiview to enhance the viewing experience. Peacock will also introduce a new Rinkside Live feature for a dynamic view of ice skaters on mobile devices. For those looking to watch the Olympics on TV, tablet, or laptop, Peacock offers multiple camera angles via Rinkside. DirectTV offers access to all Olympic channels, including CNBC, NBC, NBCSN, Olympics Channel, and USA, even with its lowest-priced Entertainment package. Subscribers can enjoy unlimited cloud DVR storage and stream on up to 20 devices simultaneously on their home network. Hulu + Live TV provides a mix of on-demand video and live TV for $90 per month, including local NBC channels, CNBC, NBCSN, the Olympics Channel, and USA. Hulu also offers enhanced cloud DVR storage of up to 200 hours and unlimited video storage for up to nine months. Sling TV's à la carte approach allows viewers to choose channels based on their preferences. For the Olympics, Sling Blue at $55 per month is sufficient, and users can opt for the Orange and Blue package at $35 per month for the first month. Sling TV offers NBC and USA in select areas, with the option to upgrade to 200 hours of cloud DVR storage for $5 per month. YouTube TV stands out with over 100 live TV channels, including NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and more. New users can avail of a limited-time offer of two months of YouTube TV for $60 per month. The service offers 78 channels out of the top 100 live TV networks and an outstanding DVR feature. Viewers outside the US can use a VPN like NordVPN to access NBC's coverage of the Olympic Games. NordVPN offers consistent speed and stability, with 111 server locations and support for up to 10 device connections simultaneously. Setting up a VPN involves subscribing to a VPN service, downloading the software, granting necessary permissions, and signing in with credentials to connect to a server location.