The 2016 Olympics officially kick off with the opening ceremony on Friday, August 5th in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The last summer Olympics in London in 2012 were actually the most watched event in history at the time. Not only were they the most watched on traditional TV, but it also set records for the most live streaming for an event. The 2012 Olympics actually had almost 2 billion page views and 159 million stream of events during the entire competition. It is incredibly reasonable to assume the 2016 Olympics will completely blow the existing streaming records out of the water.
In 2012, the streaming and TV viewing totals were close. Since then, the interest in streaming has absolutely taken off and now there are tons of ways to
watch the Olympics online. Keep in mind, the 2012 Olympics are no longer the top streamed event, having been surpassed by others over the last four years. This isn’t surprising considering the whole cable cutting trend has forced cable providers to offer live streams of their channels and has effectively created a whole new industry of cable alternatives.
Prior to the last Olympics, the big streaming event was the Royal Wedding, and since then the FIFA World Cup in 2014 has surpassed everything else. The World Cup was nearly streamed about 50% more than the 2012 Olympics were, and in total ESPN logged more than 30 million streaming hours.
NBC, which is the channel broadcasting the Olympics, has tons of live stream events each year for its subscribers. In addition, they have been ahead of many other networks in making deals with streaming services to watch NBC broadcasts online without cable. The blend of NBC’s streaming options will be a huge driver for potentially making the 2016 Olympics the most streamed event in history.
The main two services for watching NBC without cable are Sling TV and PlayStation Vue. Here are some highlights of both services:
•Sling TV: A subscription streaming service from Dish Network will offer nearly all of the Olympics live nationwide. In certain locations, subscribers to the Sling Blue package will get NBC’s network broadcast live, which will mean they can watch the entirety of the Olympics live streaming on Sling TV.
Most locations get the 40 other channels featured on Sling Blue, which include USA, Bravo, and NBCSN to watch plenty of the Olympics. And during the Olympics, Sling will also offer MSNBC and CNBC free.
•PlayStation Vue: NBC is offered in seven select markets live and on-demand everywhere else on PlayStation Vue. Also, all of the other above channels mentioned on Sling TV can be watched live streaming with the basic package of PlayStation Vue. The package costs $29.99 per month in most locations and $39.99 per month in locations where NBC and other local networks are available (the include CBS, ABC, and FOX).
In total, depending on your location both services can let you either watch the entire Olympics or almost the entire Olympics online without paying for cable.
One of the biggest things that will put a dent on people streaming the Olympics is NBC’s refusal to broadcast the Opening Ceremonies live. It is not just online either; once again NBC is airing the ceremonies on TV with a one-hour delay.
The network argues it has a responsibility to shareholders and would not be able to justify cutting out certain countries to air commercials. However, many viewers would much prefer the ceremonies live instead of edited and aired on a delay that could be up to several hours depending on location. So it’s likely this will lead to more people searching for pirated live streams.
Also, the ongoing controversy that seems to surround the Olympics could be another problem spot for streaming records. There have been issues reported with the sanitation of the Brazilian facilities and the ongoing threats of the Zika virus. On top of that, you have one of the biggest doping scandals in history overshadowing everything. While the Olympic Committee stopped short of suspending the entire Russian Olympic team, there will be fewer Russian competitors than in years past.
However, in spite of all this controversy, NBC hopes the drama and excitement of the Olympics will win over fans from around the world. This will likely lead to record TV viewers, and a new streaming record from fans electing to watch over the internet with all the new streaming options out there. With that in mind, make sure you have all of your viewing and streaming options all set up to make sure you do not miss any of the action!
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