On your cable box, no matter your provider, Olympics coverage will be on the NBC family of networks: NBC, USA, Telemundo, NBC Sports Network, CNBC, MSNBC, the Golf Network, Bravo, and NBC Universo. Every second of the games will be broadcast though the NBC Sports app, even those not airing on TV anywhere. But here’s how it breaks down per provider:

Xfinity X1

We’ve written about X1’s Olympic offerings here before, but it comes down to this: Using the X1 box you’ll be able to see every single minute of the Olympics, live, straight from the menu. The events that aren’t on traditional TV can be streamed live – via the NBC Sports app – through your cable box. You’ll even be able to watch individual portions of group competitions. For example, during team gymnastics, you can choose to watch the overall broadcast or focus individually on the uneven bars, floor routine, pommel horse, etc. The NBC Sports app  will be broadcasting every single second of the games. Everything is right here in your box.

Comcast Xfinity

You’ll have all the access to TV broadcasts that X1 has, but you won’t be able to stream everything through your cable box. You’ll have to use the NBC Sports app for the rest and get it to your TV on your own. Or, you can upgrade to an X1 box for free.

Verizon

On top of the basic channels, Verizon has added two specialty channels – one for basketball (channel 591 in HD) and one for soccer (channel 598 in HD) – as part of a partnership with NBC. Customers can also access all of the live feeds from NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app using their cable credentials and on “connected TVs for verified customers who subscribe to a package that includes USA Network and who log-in to the site or app.” The Fios Mobile app can also be used to watch all of the TV broadcasts of the games on any device in your  home.

Additionally, Verizon customers will be able to watch Gold Zone – a RedZone type channel for Olympic highlights, available on the X1 box as well – on the NBC Olympics website and NBC Sports app. The channel will stream from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. “most days.” X1 cusomters can watch Gold Zone right through their box.


Other Providers

You’ll be able to catch every second of the Olympics on the NBC Sports app – available on iOS devices, Android devices, the Google Play app store, Windows store, Chromecast,  Fire TV, Xbox One, and Roku –  as long as you have cable login credentials. Streaming it through your TV will be up to you.

Cord Cutters

The easiest way to stream the Olympics as a cord cutter would be to… uh… “borrow” someone’s cable login. Past that, if you have Sling or Playstation Vue, you’ll be able to catch some of the TV coverage. According to Lifehacker, “Sling TV’s basic package includes every channel that’s covering the games, including MSNBC and CNBC, even though they’re not normally part of the basic package (they’re free for the month of August).” If you don’t use Sling, you can get a seven-day free trial (at the Blue tier for Networks) and catch the first seven days of the games for free. After that trial runs out (make sure you cancel), you can move on to a seven-day trial of Playstation Vue – you don’t need a gaming system – at the “Access” tier. A Vue account also allows you to login to the NBC Sports app and access all of their streams. You’ll just have to click “See a full list of providers” when logging in.

Going one step further, you can use a VPN to stream the free offerings from the BBC, CBC in Canada, Seven Network in AUS, CCTV in China, RTE in Ireland, and more.

A master schedule of the Olympic events by day is available here.