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The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan kick off in just under two weeks, and for those who have cut the cord, there are plenty of ways to catch all the action without a traditional cable or satellite TV subscription.
Also: The best live TV streaming services
Where can I watch the Olympics?
The Olympics officially open on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, at 2 p.m. Eastern time -- 8 p.m. Central European Time (CET) -- in Milan Cortina with a ceremony at the San Siro Stadium. NBC will also re-air the Opening Ceremony at 8 p.m. ET for Primetime. The Games will feature 17 days of competition, ending on Feb. 22, with around 2,900 athletes from over 90 nations competing.
NBCUniversal will provide daily coverage of the Winter Games' most exciting events. Altogether, NBC says it plans to present live coverage from all 116 medal events. This will include live coverage of skiing, ice skating, luge, curling, and more. The major events will air on NBC between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. ET. Olympics coverage will preempt all other shows.
If you don't have a cable package, you have a couple of options to watch the Olympics: You can subscribe to Peacock for $11 per month to watch every event live. Or, you can buy an over-the-air (OTA) antenna, and watch on NBC for free. This is a great option if you live within range of a broadcast tower. You can also watch the opening and closing ceremonies, some medal ceremonies, and highlights for free on the NBC Olympics website.
Also: The best TV antennas
If you're outside the US and want to specifically watch NBC's coverage, you may need to use a VPN to stream the Olympic Games. NordVPN is our tested pick for the best VPN for streaming.
Milan is six hours ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone. That means most major events will happen in the morning and afternoon for US viewers. The network will also show a three-hour Olympics prime-time show every evening.
While the games will be produced in high-dynamic-range 4K video, it's unclear how much of that 4K video will be broadcast in the US, either on OTA or Peacock.
Here's ZDNET's comprehensive guide to watching the 2026 Winter Olympics, ensuring you don't miss a moment of the excitement.
Best live TV streaming services for the Winter 2026 Olympics
The best way to watch the Olympics is to stream on Peacock Premium for $11 per month (with ads). It's important to note that the base plan, Peacock Select for $8 per month, does not include live sports coverage like the Olympics.
With Peacock, you can stream all 116 events live. To help you watch, Peacock will offer features such as Live Actions, which lets you set prompts to jump to new activities, and Discovery Multiview, which allows you to stream four sports simultaneously. You can also create a viewing schedule, search by sport or athlete, and keep updated with all the medals and awards.
New for the 2026 Winter Olympics, Peacock will offer a Rinkside Live feature that delivers a dynamic vertical view of ice skaters on your phone, plus live highlights and multiple camera angles, alongside the traditional broadcast. If you're watching on your TV, tablet, or laptop, you can see all camera angles simultaneously via Rinkside.
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If you want to stream the US coverage of the Olympic Games outside of the country, you'll need to use a virtual private network (VPN). Our tested pick for the best VPN for streaming is , thanks to its consistent speed and stability. NordVPN's country availability within its server network currently stands at 111 locations, and the number of device connections you can use simultaneously is 10.
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You can watch all the Olympic channels you need to watch the games -- CNBC, NBC, NBCSN, Olympics Channel, and USA -- on DirectTV, even on its lowest-price level, the $90 Entertainment package.
In addition, DirecTV includes unlimited cloud DVR storage. With it, you can keep as many DVR recordings as you'd like for up to nine months.
You can watch the game or any other show on up to 20 streaming devices simultaneously on your home network. Away from home, you can share your stream with up to three other devices.
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Hulu + Live TV offers an attractive combination of on-demand video and live TV for $90 per month after a three-day free trial. For Olympics watchers, it offers your local NBC channel, CNBC, NBCSN, the Olympics Channel, and USA.
Hulu also offers enhanced cloud DVR, increasing the available DVR storage from 50 hours to 200 hours. That should prove very handy for the Games. In addition, you can store an unlimited number of videos in your cloud DVR archive for up to nine months.
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I like Sling TV's à la carte approach to channels. I enjoy picking and choosing channels, but I know some people find it more confusing than useful. That said, for the Olympics, you will be able to get by with Sling Blue, which costs $55 per month. Right now, you can get the Orange and Blue package for $35 per month for your first month, so you can choose this option and cancel it after the Olympics are over.
It takes digging, but Sling TV offers NBC and USA in "select areas." Which ones? Good question. This page will let you see what's available, but it doesn't explain the logic. For example, it tells me I can't get FOX, NBC, or ABC even though they are available OTA in my area.
If you're considering Sling TV, you need to look at the above-mentioned page if you want to watch the Olympic Games.
Sling TV's default cloud DVR offers 50 hours for free. You can upgrade to 200 hours for $5 per month. The video is shown in 720p. With a Sling Orange plan, you can only watch a single stream, and with Sling Blue, you can watch shows on three devices simultaneously. Combined, you can stream your shows on up to four devices.
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With over 100 live TV channels, YouTube TV offers more popular channels than its competitors, and includes all the relevant channels: NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and more. For a limited time, new users can get two months of YouTube TV for $60 per month, which is a $23 per month discount.
By CNET's count, out of the top 100 live TV networks, YouTube TV offers the most channels, 78, of any streaming service. YouTubeTV's DVR is also outstanding. With it, you can record as many shows as you like. The only restriction is that they'll disappear after nine months. I can live with that.
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Yes, you'll be able to watch the US overage of the Games outside the country, but no matter which service you use, you'll need a virtual private network (VPN). That's because NBC only has the rights to show the games in the US. To bypass these restrictions, you'll need to use the VPN to make it appear as if you're watching the games inside the US. Here's how to use a VPN to stream the Olympics:
Download and Install a VPN: ZDNET has several recommended streaming VPNs. ZDNET named NordVPN the best VPN for streaming, but we also recommend ExpressVPN as another option.
Connect to the Appropriate Server Location: Open the VPN app and select a place in the US.
Finally, go to your streaming service and start watching the Games.
Also: The best VPN services (and how to choose the right one for you)
Or, if you want to watch using your usual US streaming service, you can stream the game from your home streaming service with most VPNs.
Australia: In Oz, you can watch the Olympics on the Nine Network and its streaming brother, 9Now. The Network will have select live coverage of the Olympics, and you can watch on-demand highlights on the network's streaming service, 9Now.
Canada: In Canada, the Olympics will be broadcast on CBC. They will be shown on the free CBC Gem streaming service as well as TOU.tv.
UK: The BBC will broadcast the 2026 Games on its free-to-air channels, BBC One and BBC Two. You can also live stream the action from Paris on the BBC iPlayer. If you want to watch more of the games, you'll need Discovery Plus, which offers more hours of live coverage across various channels.
The least expensive way to watch the games is with an antenna (find my top picks for the best TV antennas here). You can also watch some of the Olympics on the NBC Olympics site.
You can also get a five-day free trial from YouTube TV, and Hulu Live TV offers a free three-day trial.
If you can't watch the Games with an antenna and don't subscribe to a streaming service, there is one other cheap way to do it: Get Peacock.
The 2026 Olympics Closing Ceremony will take place Sunday, Feb. 22, at 2 p.m. ET, or 8 p.m. Milan time.
For detailed schedules and updates, visit NBC Olympics.com or the official Milan Olympics website. I guarantee the schedules will change, so if there's a sport you follow closely, keep an eye on what's showing and when. Enjoy the Games!
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