# Can you watch the Olympics in the US legally with no cable/antenna? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 27, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610 "2012-07-27T21:25:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/1 "2012-07-27T21:25:29Z")
I haven’t really wanted to see anything sports related since we “cut the cord” - we have Hulu Plus and Netflix Watch Instantly and are Amazon Prime people, so mostly we’re covered with whatever we want. Can we watch the Olympics that way? Or through YouTube? The Opening Ceremonies seem like they’re pretty wack, I’d like to catch that in a nice HD format - will NBC show me that online? I looked at their site and it seems they have some silly “must subscribe to cable package” thing. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/2 "2012-07-27T21:33:07Z")
Perhaps they’ll have highlights for free, but the bulk of the “live” content is all behind the service provider login as you’ve found. The “free” option is antenna TV, but if you don’t have that anymore, you are out of luck I think. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/3 "2012-07-27T22:39:49Z")
If you’re within about 30 miles of a TV station that is on the air, you can rig up an antenna out of coat hangers and odd bits of wire and hook it to your TV. Then use your TV settings control to temporarily switch to Antenna. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/4 "2012-07-27T22:44:00Z")
Do you have any broadband internet at all? You can stream most things through [NBCOlympics.com](http://NBCOlympics.com). ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/5 "2012-07-27T22:45:34Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Do you have any broadband internet at all? You can stream most things through [NBCOlympics.com](http://NBCOlympics.com). Only if you subscribe to a cable provider that supplies NBC. If you don’t have cable for any reason, then you can’t watch the ‘official’ live feeds ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/6 "2012-07-28T06:26:09Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > If you’re within about 30 miles of a TV station that is on the air, you can rig up an antenna out of coat hangers and odd bits of wire and hook it to your TV. Then use your TV settings control to temporarily switch to Antenna. And of course you need a digital TV capable of picking up ATSC transmissions, or else a digital-to-analog converter if you have an analog set. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/7 "2012-07-31T09:25:29Z")
YouTube is running some of them–it’ll be mentioned on the top of the front page when it’s close. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/8 "2012-07-31T17:01:06Z")
Quite a few people are upset with NBC’s coverage in the USA. Many are using technical workarounds with VPN to make it appear their US-based computers are sitting overseas (foeign IP address) so they can access the BBC live feeds and presumably, better coverage. Some are free while, others charge after an initial grace period (time or download limit). No links offered since the actual process may not be entirely kosher based on location and your ISP agreement. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/9 "2012-07-31T17:40:03Z")
Lifehacker has an article on this today. They describe a questionable technique but I don’t think it is actually illegal for the end user. > **[How an American Can Stream the BBC's Official Olympics Coverage and Overcome...](https://lifehacker.com/how-an-american-can-stream-the-bbcs-official-olympics-c-5930437)** > > If you're outside of the United Kingdom then getting a good live feed of the Olympics isn't easy. NBC is streaming some video, but it's ugly, slow, and requires a cable subscription. Worse, what they're showing on their over-the-air broadcast is tape... ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/10 "2012-07-31T17:45:38Z")
Is CTV.ca’s coverage of the olympics also region locked? I’m guessing so, but I throw that one out there, too! ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/11 "2012-07-31T17:47:26Z")
I’d also recommend a few websites that would stream the BBC feed for you free without region locks, but since those sites are also notorious for streaming US pro sports for free, I’d rather not talk about them on here. That Lifehacker link mentions a few of them. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/12 "2012-07-31T18:38:42Z")
Dopers in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia can watch it for free. > **[64 Nations Can Watch the Olympics Free and Live on YouTube, and the U.S....](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2012/07/64-nations-can-watch-the-olympics-free-and-live-on-youtube-and-the-us-isnt-one-of-them/260494/)** > > Why America can't watch the Games live for free, and why it's exciting that other countries can ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-you-watch-the-olympics-in-the-us-legally-with-no-cable-antenna/629610/14 "2016-07-20T16:28:42Z")
Reported.