NBC, as we all know, has a vicious stranglehold on the Olympics. They aren’t aired live, but rather on tape delay for maximum ratings. In a world where we can get everything delivered to our door with two-day shipping and stream anything we want, it’s an archaic and stupid way of watching this sporting event.
And, thanks to technology, you don’t have to put up with it. Here’s how to watch the Olympics without listening to terrible color commentary.
If You Have Cable Or Satellite
Just go to NBCOlympics.com. NBC has, in fact, semi-given up and will livestream everything from this website. It’s not just actually live broadcasting the games on TV, but that’s what makes NBC money.
If You’re A Cord-cutter
If you’ve cut the cord and don’t want to deal with the tape delay and various patriotic cruft NBC festoons the games with during broadcast, well, then you’re going to have to get a little creative. You might have already tried to stream the Olympics from BBC 2 or the CBC, who are airing it in the UK and Canada respectively, only to discover that being an American means you don’t get to watch the TV channels foreign taxpayers have to shell out for. That’s why you set up a virtual private network, or VPN.
A VPN connects you directly to the Internet in other countries by connecting you to a server within that country, allowing you to easily get around geoblocking and other nasty problems. The best VPN tools are something nerds are arguing about constantly, but probably the best tool, in terms of ease of use and availability on platforms, is Tunnelbear. It’s on Mac, PC, iOS and Android, and an unlimited plan is available for $5 a month. Pick a country, turn it on, and you’re ready to go. Be aware that VPNs are necessarily slower than a direct connection, so the stream’s not going to be perfect.
Yes, you are technically ripping off the taxpayers of another country by doing this. But, really, the BBC should be selling online TV licenses in the first place, so it’s kind of their fault. Or at least that’s how we justify it. Besides, at the rate the Games are going, you’re going to want to see all of this trainwreck live anyway.