When and Where to Watch the 2026 Winter Olympics, Based on Your Obsession Level

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The 2026 Winter Olympics will kick off in Milano Cortina, Italy, beginning on Friday, Feb. 6. With more than 3,200 hours of winter sports coverage spread across broadcast, cable, and digital streaming platforms, finding what you want to watch can feel like a full-time job. So here's where and when you can watch the Olympics.

Watching the Olympics is a deeply personal experience. Some love the technical precision of a perfect luge run; others dig the emotional narrative of an underdog’s journey to the podium; and some just want to catch the meme of the week as it happens. Because everyone's "perfect Olympics" is unique, I’ve also put together a viewing guide designed for the way you might want to experience the 2026 Games.

How to watch the Olympics on broadcast and cable TV

NBCUniversal has the exclusive rights to show the Olympics in the U.S. this year, and the network is practically going all-Olympics from the opening ceremony on Feb. 6 to the closing on Feb. 22. If you're watching the Olympics in the old-school "turn on the TV" way, the 2026 Winter Olympics are on broadcast channel NBC and cable channels CNBC and USA Network. If you're streaming the games, you'll be doing it from Peacock.

NBC's broadcast Olympics coverage

During primetime, NBC is showing Primetime in Milan, three hours of curated Olympics coverage, nightly, beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT, except Super Bowl Sunday, when Primetime in Milan will start at 10:45 p.m. ET.

In the daytime, NBC will be broadcasting five hours of coverage daily focusing mainly on more popular Winter Olympics coverage like snowboarding, skiing, figure skating, and hockey. Daytime Olympics programming will begin at 7 a.m. ET most days, and continue through the early afternoon, depending on the daily lineup.

NBC is also airing a nightly wrap-up of each day's events after the local news; the Olympics' opening ceremony on Friday, Feb. 6, at 2 p.m. ET; live coverage of the closing ceremonies at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 22, with an encore showing at 9 p.m.; and 4K Olympics coverage on Super Bowl Sunday, beginning at 7 a.m. ET.

Cable television Olympics coverage

NBC-owned cable networks USA Network and CNBC will also feature Olympics content during the games.

• USA Network: USA Network will be devoted to Olympics coverage nearly 24/7 during the games, showing a mix of live events and encore showings of past events. Because of the six-hour time difference from Italy to the U.S., USA Network will show live Olympic events nightly beginning around 2 a.m. ET, and feature continuing coverage through the early afternoon.

• CNBC: CNBC is devoted to curling (really). The cable network plans to broadcast a nightly "Best of Curling" show on weeknights at 5 p.m. ET, with long form coverage on weekends.

Where to stream the 2026 Olympics

If you are planning to stream the Olympics, you'll be doing it on Peacock, NBC's streaming platform. Peacock will stream every single session of all 116 medal events live, as well as offering full-event replays of every event available on-demand.

How to watch the Olympics if you're a casual viewer

"I want to be part of the conversation, but I don't need to watch biathlon at 4 a.m."

If you want high production values, dramatic stories of inspiring athletes, and exciting contests curated by sports broadcasting pros, the mainstream coverage is for you. Don't miss the opening ceremonies on Feb. 6, at 2 p.m. ET, and catch as much of NBC's primetime coverage as you have time for. It's bound to be packed with crowd-pleasing events, give you lots of background on different athletes, and Olympics breaking news, but without a lot of obscure or boring sports.

Pro tip: Subscribe to the Two Guys, Five Rings podcast; Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang's Olympics coverage is bound to be hilarious.

How to watch the Olympics if you're a single-sport fan

"I'm only here for the luge."

If you religiously follow a single sport in the Olympics, be it hockey or snowboarding, and you really don't care about, say, inspirational ice-dancer stories, your best bet is Peacock's Sports Hub, where you can watch every qualifying heat and every medal contest of only the sport you like, either live or on-demand.

Pro tip: Coordinate your calendar with NBC's interactive schedule to make sure you know when everything is happening.

How to watch the Olympics if you're a gossip

"Half the fun of the Olympics is dishing about it."

If the Olympics is better as a shared experience, watch NBC.com's broadcast coverage in one window, and check out the social media feeds of NBC's "Creator Collective," where TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube influencers like Kylie Kelce, Anna Sitar, and Jordan Howlett will be watching along.

Pro tip: Don't sleep on Reddit communities r/olympics and r/WinterOlympics2026.

How to watch the Olympics if you're curious

"I'm irrationally passionate about a sport I'd never heard of before today."

If you love to discover strange new sports, the Winter Olympics are going to be fun. Skip the mainstream coverage on NBC and browse through Peacock's Sports Hub catalog for sports you've never heard of.

Pro tip: Don't miss the debut of Ski Mountaineering ("SkiMo"), the only brand-new sport at the 2026 Games. It’s a grueling hybrid where athletes who hate ski lifts for some reason hike up steep mountains before carving down high-speed technical descents.

How to watch the Olympics if you're a completist

"I absolutely cannot get enough Olympics and I want to watch as much as is humanly possible."

If you have a lot of time on your hands and want to see literally everything, you'll need Peacock, and to get familiar with its "Discovery Multiview" feature, which lets you watch up to four sporting events at the same time.

Pro tip: Go to the NBC Olympics Full Schedule and use the "My Stuff" feature to build a personalized calendar before the games start to plan your epic Olympic binge.

How to watch the Olympics if you're a tech-head

"I want to feel the snow in my face without leaving my house."

If you want the highest resolution, most immersive Olympic experience possible without traveling to Italy, do not miss 4K All-Day on NBC and Peacock on Sunday, Feb. 8 for 17 hours of 4K HDR coverage of both the Olympics and the Super Bowl. And download the Peacock app for your Meta Quest 3 or 3S headset to watch the Olympics in augmented reality, or check out the "spatial cinema" broadcast of the Olympics on your Apple Vision Pro.

Pro tip: NBC is rolling out a new streaming feature called Rinkside Live for Olympic hockey and figure skating. It lets viewers choose from multiple curated feeds of "immersive, never-before-seen views."

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