How to watch the Olympics on Apple TV

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Get ready to binge on the Summer Olympic games.
Photo: Buster Hein/Cult of Mac

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are set to be the most streamed event in sporting history thanks to NBC’s plan to live-stream all 34 sports. Apple TV users can get in on the 4,500 hours of coverage that starts on August 5th even if you don’t have a cable subscription.

Here’s how to watch all the action using Apple TV:

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NBC Sports

nbc sports logo
NBC is the home of the Summer Olympics.
Photo: NBC

The easiest place to get all the coverage is directly from NBC. If you have cable you can login and access all the streaming. Those without a cable subscription will be able to watch 30 minutes on the first visit and then only 5 minutes per day after that.

To install NBC Sports on Apple TV, go to the App Store and search for NBC and you should find it among the first results. iPhone and iPad owners can also install the NBC Sports app for iOS and the AirPlay the video feed over to your Apple TV.

Sling TV

sling on iPhone
Sling TV will stream the Olympics for you.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Instead of getting a cable subscription just to stream the Olympics, you can sign up for Sling TV. The TV channel streaming service’s Blue package includes NBC Sports among its 40 channels so you can watch the main broadcast.

The streaming plan costs $25 per month and includes access to live NBC broadcasts in Chicago, Dallas, Fort Worth, Hartford, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego and Washington.

Channels app

Channels app on Apple TV
Channels completely changes how you watch Apple TV.
Photo: Fancy Bits

NBC will also be broadcasting the Olympics for free on its local network which can be accessed with an antenna. Apple TV doesn’t have a TV tuner, but you can use the new Channels app for iOS and Apple TV to pluck the live stream events in your area and have them beamed to your Apple TV.

With Channels you can even pause, rewind and fast-forward live TV. The only catch is that you need to buy an HDHomeRun TV tuner which makes it possible to broadcast television over your home network. The service doesn’t support DRM-protected streams and you can only use it in your home, but it’s a great way to add tons of channels to your Apple TV.

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